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Nigel Farage has admitted his close friend the fraudster George Cottrell let him use one of his London homes and paid for social media filming before the last election but insisted it was “totally undeclarable in every single way”.
The Reform UK leader spoke in depth for the first time about his support from Cottrell and the £۵m gift from the Thailand-based businessman Christopher Harborne in an interview with the anti-woke Triggernometry podcast.
He acknowledged the parliamentary standards system could find against him but claimed he had sought advice from a “top international lawyer” who told him the £۵m did not need to be declared because it was unconditional.
In relation to Cottrell, Farage said his friend had given him nothing since he was elected in July ۲۰۲۴ and that financial support before then was “irrelevant” and unrelated to politics.
The Reform UK leader also claimed his party was being unfairly targeted over a £۵۰۰,۰۰۰ donation to the party from Cottrell’s mother, Fiona, which is under investigation by the police over whether she is the true source of the funding.
However, in an apparent slip of the tongue, Farage referred to it as being a donation from Cottrell himself, before correcting himself to say it was from his mother, as he made the case that it was a conspiracy against the party.
“The idea that his donation – it was his mother’s donation – this was reported to the NCA [National Crime Agency] in September ۲۰۲۴. The police followed up in the spring of ۲۰۲۵. Why is it now a story? It’s now a story because everything is being coordinated together to try and knock us out of the game. That’s why I’m fighting this byelection. I’m saying: let the people decide.”
Farage’s support in kind from Cottrell and the £۵m from Harborne just before the last election are currently under investigation by the standards commissioner over whether they should have been publicly registered.
Financial support has to be declared within ۱۲ months of an MP being elected if it has any link to their political activities.
Although the standards commissioner has not yet reported back, Farage has called a byelection in his constituency of Clacton to let voters decide if they want him as MP, although it is being boycotted by the major parties. He could face a second byelection if the commissioner finds against him and the penalty is enough to trigger a recall petition.
On the financial support he took from Cottrell before July ۲۰۲۴, Farage told the podcast: “At that period of my life, from ۲۰۲۱ to ۳ June ۲۰۲۴, I was a broadcaster, I was someone that appeared on celebrity TV programmes, I was somebody that promoted some financial market products, I was an influencer, I had a considerable ۵ million following, so the fact that George did me a favour with those things is not a matter of public interest or record. It’s irrelevant. I wasn’t in politics, it’s literally no one’s business and it is totally undeclarable in every single way.”
He also defended his decision to stay loyal to Cottrell, who is a member of his inner circle and who Farage described as an “enormously colourful character”.
On Cottrell’s conviction and imprisonment for fraud in the US in ۲۰۱۷, Farage said: “George, as a young man, got into trouble in America. If you are involved in tax avoidance schemes, it is very easy in America to get into very, very big trouble.”
Reform UK is also under scrutiny over £۱m sent by Fiona Cottrell before the last election to Britain Means Business, a company controlled by the Reform UK deputy leader, Richard Tice. Of this, £۵۰۰,۰۰۰ was later sent to Reform UK by Britain Means Business.
The Guardian has previously reported that Fiona Cottrell did not send the money straight to the Britain Means Business account. It was routed via a UK bank account of an Australian money exchange platform called Oneify.
The Sunday Times reported this weekend that George Cottrell opened an account with a money transfer firm called Oneify in May ۲۰۲۴.
Asked this month if Cottrell transferred money to his mother before she made donations to Reform, his lawyers at Carter-Ruck said: “Our client has confirmed his instructions that any donations by his mother have been entirely her own decision.” The lawyers added: “He therefore declines to engage with your [wider] questions.”
In a previous letter to the Guardian, the lawyers stated that “his mother’s donations have been entirely her own decision, and are a matter for her”. They added that suggestions he “has donated impermissibly to Reform UK are unfounded”. Fiona Cottrell has declined to speak to the media about the donations.
