Under-fire Nigel Farage interviewed in probe over £5million gift from crypto billionaire

Under-fire Nigel Farage interviewed in probe over £5million gift from crypto billionaire The under-pressure Reform chief, who faces a second by-election battle if the probe finds against him, was said to have been quizzed for around 30 minutes last month Embattled Nigel Farage has been interviewed by the parliamentary watchdog over a £5million gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The under-pressure Reform chief, who faces a second by-election battle if the probe finds against him, was said to have been quizzed for around 30 minutes last month. It comes as Mr Farage continues to be dogged over the gift he failed to declare before his election as an MP in July 2024. He told the Sunday Times he had been interviewed by the parliamentary commissioner for standards Daniel Greenberg over whether he should have declared the £5million gift. Mr Farage has given differing explanations for the gift, originally saying it was for his personal security and then later claiming it was a reward for campaigning for Brexit. He also claimed it was no-one's business what he spent the money on and suggested he could even splash it on Ferraris or betting in a bad-tempered interview. The investigation into Mr Farage - who denies wrongdoing -was briefly paused earlier this year after Mr Farage resigned as an MP to trigger a by-election in his own Clacton seat. He desperately attempted to frame the fight as a "people versus the establishment by-election" but the plan unravelled after major political parties boycotted the "cynical political stunt". The debacle left the ex-Ukip leader battling comedy candidate Count Binface over the summer. But Mr Farage still faces the daunting prospect of a second by-election in Clacton if the commissioner rules against him - and issues him with a lengthy Commons suspension. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Farage also attempted to dismiss claims Reform had peaked in the polls with Labour under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham winning back supporters. He said: "The narrative that Reform has peaked? No, it's troughed. It's a very different thing, it's troughed." The ex-Ukip leader also claimed some people were "quite impressed" when Reform secured historic donations of £72million from two crypto billionaires. It emerged last month the party was handed £36million each from Ben Delo and Mr Harborne in a move that fired up growing pressure to curb political donations. TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said at the time voters would smell a rat. He said: "The public will say what does he want for his £36million?" But Mr Farage said over the weekend he thought the reaction would be "far worse". He bizarrely went on to say there was "some grudging respect", adding: "The fact that I managed to pull off a coup of that magnitude, people were quite impressed." A Labour spokesman told The Mirror: "Nigel Farage is completely out of touch and always seems to think he's above the rules. It's time he finally came clean about the scandals he's facing and put all the facts on the table. "Farage's mega donations from crypto-billionaires won't let him buy his way out of the sleaze and scandal he and his party are drowning in."