Farage aide says £5m version was not the press office’s position — The Guardian

In the United Kingdom, Dan Jukes, a former close aide to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, said in a covert recording that Farage’s explanation of a £5m gift as a reward for Brexit did not reflect the press office’s position. This was reported by The Guardian.

The recording was made by the investigative journalism group Verbatim. In a conversation with a reporter posing as a donor, Jukes said that Farage’s admission of a political reward “was not the press office line”. According to Jukes, the current explanation is that the money was a thank-you for Brexit and was intended to pay for Farage’s security for the rest of his life.

Explanation regarding £5m

On 14 May, Farage told The Sun that the £5m had been given to him without any conditions, while also describing it as a reward for 27 years of campaigning for Brexit. He had previously also explained receiving the funds by citing the need for his personal security.

The money was provided by crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. He had previously said that the gift was intended to support Farage’s security not only now but throughout his life. Harborne’s lawyers claimed that he expected nothing in return and did not anticipate Farage’s return to politics.

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According to The Guardian, the timing of the transfer of the funds is disputed. Harborne’s representatives said that the gift was made on 5 April 2024. At the same time, the newspaper’s sources in the financial sector reported that part of the sum arrived at the end of May — shortly before Farage announced on 3 June that he intended to run for parliament.

Checks and reactions

The parliamentary watchdog is examining whether Farage should have declared the £5m under parliamentary rules. A police investigation is also ongoing. An internal Reform UK review concluded that Jukes and another senior party official, James Orr, had not breached the ban on foreign donations.

A Farage representative did not answer a number of questions from The Guardian, including about the claim that there had been a departure from the press office’s position. At the same time, he said that Jukes had correctly described the purpose of the gift as funds for Farage’s lifelong security. Jukes’s lawyers called the covert recording the result of prolonged entrapment and selective editing aimed at discrediting Reform UK, and said that their client denies any wrongdoing.