Just weeks before Nigel Farage decided to run as an MP in the 2024 general election. he accepted a £5m gift from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
“When MPs become members of parliament. they are given a copy of the code of conduct,” the Guardian’s City editor, Anna Isaac, tells Annie Kelly. “These are the rules that every MP has to adhere to. And in that code of conduct it says that you need to declare benefits and financial interests. So within 28 days of becoming an MP. you need to go back through your books, through your finances for 12 months beforehand.”
“And you’re meant to declare any benefits or outside earnings that you had in that period. The wrinkle here is that Reforms says, well, hang on, this was a personal gift. And it’s true that some personal gifts don’t have to be declared. within the rules, it does say if there is any doubt that it ought to be recorded. So now that the gift’s come to light, we’re getting more scrutiny as to that question.”
After initially claiming that the gift was for his personal security. Farage now says the money was a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit.
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