Nigel Farage roasted over £5 million gift in PMQs exchange
'The £5m question is why did the Reform leader keep this donation secret? I see he's not here to explain.'
Labour MP Lloyd Hatton and Keir Starmer roasted Nigel Farage at PMQs over the undeclared £5 million gift he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Hatton, the MP for South Dorset, said he welcomed the steps to clean up British politics with the Elections Bill, but said “we must go further”.
In a dig at Farage, who was not at PMQs today, the Labour MP said: “If I had a £5 million gift from a billionaire living half way across the world, and not come clean about what that money was for, my constituents would be furious.”
Amid shouts of “hear, hear” from other MPs, he added: “If the same billionaire had then bankrolled my party to the tune of £12 million, my constituents would be knocking on my door and calling for me to resign.”
Hatton then asked the prime minister if he agreed that the People’s Representation Bill “must ensure that no British politician is ever for sale to the highest bidder”.
In response, Starmer said that Labour has already committed to a temporary ban on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, and that the King’s Speech introduced “tougher rules to protect our democracy”.
The PM then said: “The £5m question is why did the Reform leader keep this donation secret? I see he’s not here to explain.
“And what did the billionaire lining his pockets want in return? These questions need to be answered. That’s why he’s not here.”
The Reform leader has refused media interviews and cancelled a rally in Sunderland last week amid speculation that he is dodging questions about Harborne’s gift.
The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has launched an investigation into Farage’s potential failure to declare the donation.
Farage is also under scrutiny over how he paid for a £1.4 million house in Surrey in 2024.
Reform says Farage did not use Harborne’s donation to pay for the house, and that the purchase was funded using money he received from appearing on the reality TV show ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’.
However, analysis of Farage’s company’s financial accounts by the FT suggests that the seven figure reality TV show pay-out remained on the company’s balance sheet after he purchased the house.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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