Investigation into Farage’s £5m gift from crypto-billionaire can now reopen

Nigel Farage’s re-election in Clacton reactivates the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’s investigation into the £5m gift he received from a crypto-billionaire. The Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, is likely to interview Farage within weeks as part of a probe which could result in the Reform UK leader having to fight a second by-election in his Essex constituency. While the standards investigation had been formally paused by Farage’s decision to resign from Parliament to trigger the by-election, The i Paper reported last week that the Commissioner has been working over the summer recess. Shorts It means a conclusion into Farage’s financial affairs could come more swiftly than previously anticipated when Parliament reconvenes in September. Greenberg launched the investigation in May after it emerged that Farage had received £5m from the British-born, Thailand-based crypto businessman Christopher Harborne. Harborne gave Farage the money in early 2024, ahead of the general election, with the gift only coming to light this spring following an investigation by The Guardian. Parliamentary rules require MPs to declare any “personal benefit” linked to their political activities that they have received in the 12 months before taking office and to register them within one month of their election. The Reform leader has claimed the money was for his security, and insists he had no obligation to declare it because it was “purely private”. The House of Commons Code of Conduct states that “purely personal gifts or benefits” from family or commercial loans would not normally have to be registered. But the rules also say that “both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered,” and that “if there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered”. Harborne is also Reform’s biggest donor, giving the party £12m in 2025. Reform has meanwhile promised a raft of crypto-friendly policies if it forms the next government, although Farage insists his support for crypto-deregulation is long-standing and not influenced by donations from the industry. Farage’s reasons for accepting the £5m gift Farage has argued that he did not need to declare the £5m because it was an exempt “personal, unconditional gift”. However, his explanation for why the money was given has changed over time. He initially told The Daily Telegraph that the money was to cover the cost of his personal security, citing a previous firebomb attack on his home. He later told broadcasters that he had “no obligation” to declare the payment because it was “purely private” and “wasn’t political in any sense at all”. More recently, he told The Sun that the money was a “reward for campaigning for Brexit”, while insisting that he “cannot be bought by anybody”. In June, when asked to clarify what the money was for, he told the BBC: “It was an unconditional gift, I can spend it on cars if I want to. It’s entirely up to me but there is a specific reason for this. I have been physically the most attacked and endangered politician in Britain for now well over a decade, at every stage during that time when I’ve asked the state to help and support, most times they have point-blank refused.” He went on to say the money was for protection “until the day that I die”. MPs who are found to have broken the House of Commons code of conduct face a range of punishments, from a written or oral apology to suspension from the House, or even expulsion in the most serious cases. The commissioner does not recommend any particular sanction for MPs, with any punishment being decided by the cross-party Select Committee on Standards. MPs suspended for longer than two weeks, or 10 sitting days of the Commons, can also be subject to a recall process that can result in a by-election. For a by-election to be triggered, a petition must reach 10 per cent of eligible registered voters in a constituency within a six-week period. Farage called the by-election in Clacton in a bid to pre-empt the standards investigation and claim a mandate against an “establishment” which he says is out to get him. On Friday morning, before the result was declared, Farage said he had won an “overwhelming endorsement” in a contest which he said he had called because he wanted “the voters of this constituency to be my judge, not the mainstream media in Britain”. However, the result of the by-election and Farage’s pronouncements will not influence the conclusions of the Commissioner. The main political parties which boycotted this contest have meanwhile indicated that they would stand in a second by-election if one is triggered as a result of Greenberg’s ruling.