MP Nigel Farage investigated over undeclared £5m crypto gift

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is facing an investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over a 5 million pound gift he received from a cryptocurrency billionaire, which he did not declare after winning his seat in Parliament. In a series of broadcast interviews on Tuesday, Farage defended the gift as a purely private matter and insisted he could spend it however he wished.

The gift came from Christopher Harborne, a British, Thailand-based billionaire who holds a stake in the cryptocurrency firm Tether and is a major donor to Reform UK. Farage received the money in 2024, weeks before he stood in the general election and won the Clacton constituency. Under parliamentary rules, new MPs must register gifts worth more than 300 pounds received in the previous year if they could reasonably be thought to relate to political activity.

Farage has offered shifting explanations for the gift's purpose. He initially said it was intended to pay for his personal security for the rest of his life, citing threats he has faced as a politician. In later interviews, he described it as an unconditional reward for his 27 years of campaigning for Brexit. He told LBC Radio he believed it...