Farage trying to avoid scrutiny over £5m gift from crypto billionaire, Labour says
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/10/farage-trying-to-avoid-scrutiny-over-5m-gift-from-crypto-billionaire-labour-says
Posted by topotaul
Farage trying to avoid scrutiny over £5m gift from crypto billionaire, Labour says
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/10/farage-trying-to-avoid-scrutiny-over-5m-gift-from-crypto-billionaire-labour-says
Posted by topotaul
17 Comments
Maybe stop with the shades of red infighting and send the attack dogs. Tice and his dodgy taxes too. And that house in Clacton apparently nobody owns
In the words of Starmer “What I did was within the rules”
They can’t really go too far on this, as long as it’s technically within the rules, no matter how it looks, Starmer doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
How many attacks has Starmer shut down using that line?
> “Nigel was not involved in politics at the time. He’s complied with all the laws,” Tice told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.
And yet weirdly he decided he was in politics after a 5 million pound gift from the same billionaire who funded the Brexit party (6M in 2019 and then 9 and 3 million to Reform in 2025 and 2026).
I’m not saying the two are connected though because obviously he wasn’t in politics when the money landed in his account and so according to Reform that is entirely above board.
Not just the billionaires donating either, Mrs Fiona Cottrell also donated 750K over 3 donations.
> The biggest donor to Reform UK has been revealed as the mother of the unpaid party aide and convicted fraudster George Cottrell.
> Fiona Cottrell, an aristocrat and former girlfriend of King Charles in the 1970s, donated £250,000 in March, taking her total contributions up to £750,000 over the past year.
As reported by the Guardian ( https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/10/fiona-cottrell-mother-of-nigel-farage-aide-reform-uk-donors)
> On 22 July 2016, while attending the Republican National Convention with Farage, Cottrell was arrested by IRS Criminal Investigation special agents at Chicago O’Hare International. Cottrell was federally indicted on 21 counts for conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail, and extortion. Denied bail by a judge who branded Cottrell a “serious flight risk,” he was detained in custody at Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago.[18]
> Cottrell’s indictment states how in 2014, he met with undercover federal agents in Las Vegas, where he conspired to launder millions of dollars’ worth of drug money using offshore bank accounts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cottrell#Arrest_and_conviction
Having all politicians/parties fill in a ledger of money coming in from outside sources is such a good idea for keeping track of of who is donating to what to parties, I’m very glad someone thought of it and that crypto is also banned because why wouldn’t every party want it to be obvious who is aiding them.
He’s getting away with it too. Why doesn’t someone just refer him to the ethics committee? It’s literally that simple. He’s 100% broke the rules by not declaring it. ALL DONATIONS; personal AND political need to be declared by new MPs. So he’s avoided it plain and simple. Get him.
I mean, Führage is dodgier than a used‑car salesman in Basildon, but until someone actually stands up to him and he faces some kind of punishment/scrutiny, he’ll just keep doing stuff like this.
Don’t care. Vote reform until restore is up and running its simple.
Of course he is.
Labour need to be on the offensive with stuff like this.
You have Tice avoiding taxes through agreesive mechanisms and Farage gobbling up foriegn influence for cash.
Labour need to be pointing at reform and it’s leadership as a source of woe in this country and a source for many of the countries issues.
Namely tax avoidance and foreign interference.
The left leaning guardian still doesnt learn does it. Never mind, Reform will keep winning.
Labour trying to avoid scrutiny by trying to focus on farrage lol
Why are Labour so bad at politics? Every other party would have demanded a parliamentary investigation/inquiry into a rival party MP that has a clear motive for corruption.
Just look at what they’ve done with Mandelson.
No MP should be taking five fucking million pound gifts from foreign nationals without being able to explain what they have promised in return.
How is he trying to avoid scrutiny? Just refer him to the Parliamentary Standards Commission, use your majority to vote it through and then he will face scrutiny.
It’s not exactly in his gift to avoid scrutiny.
And if this behaviour is unacceptable (as I’m sure we all accept it is), use your majority to bring in legislation where bribes such as this and free glasses etc. are prohibited.
I’m sure we’ll find that as they all have their noses in the trough there will be no action.
Even the left-leaning *Guardian* is just making this a “Labour says” story (putting it squarely in the “partisan squabbling” genre) instead of demanding accountability themselves.
If it were Kier Starmer or Zach Polanski taking a £5m bribe from a crypto billionaire it would be the only story on TV or in the newspapers until they resigned in disgrace.
And more importantly, if it were someone left of Reform, the story wouldn’t be framed as “[opposing party] say” but rather with the constant question “is he fit/credible to remain as his party’s leader?”
But because it’s the media’s darling Nigel Farage, whom the entire political press have anointed as PM-in-waiting, he gets a pass.
It’s unbelievable.
Is it frowned upon to have the intelligence services take a look because honestly wtf I think this is past the point of letting democracy sort it out: are we doing letting this charlatan run a private company backed by potentially shading business people and enemy governments walk all over our country.
If only labour where in power and could put a bill through parliament to ban 2nd jobs, gifts and donations to mp’s……..
He’s not “trying” shit, he’s succeeding, like he always does
Trying? He doesn’t need to try. The right wing press allow him to avoid any level of scrutiny
There’s no need, voters don’t give a crap. Some of the reform councillors are literal nazis and have criminal records, still voted in.
In fact the £5m gift with media spin could even be a positive. “In a BLOW to Starmer, Labour donations are down while reform and farage have recieved record donations showing the popularity of this new fledgling group.”