UK hard-right leader Farage faces new allegations over gifts

UK hard-right leader Farage faces new allegations over gifts The Reform UK chief did not declare benefits including staff, security and housing from crypto-gambler George Cottrell, UK media reported Hard-right British politician Nigel Farage on Sunday faced fresh allegations over non-disclosure of gifts after a newspaper reported a convicted fraudster paid for his security and staff before he became an MP. An MP said he had asked parliament’s standards commissioner to investigate the new claims against the leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, which is currently leading in opinion polls. Farage is already the subject of an investigation by the parliamentary anti-sleaze watchdog over the non-disclosure of a £5 million (US$6.6 million) donation from a cryptocurrency billionaire based in Thailand. It reported that Cottrell also paid for Farage’s security and paid staff who worked on his social media shortly before he announced a return to frontline politics in 2024. Cottrell pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the United States in 2017 and was jailed for eight months, according to British media. New MPs must register gifts including payments in kind they received in the 12 months before election, unless they could not be “reasonably” seen as related to political activity. [Image text:] k control o e the E voteto