Nadhim Zahawi makes himself look like a fool trying to defend Nigel Farage

Reform UK’s Nadhim Zahawi made himself look foolish while attempting to defend Nigel Farage on Sunday’s BBC show with Laura Kuenssberg, as Labour’s Miatta Fahnbulleh grilled him on his party leader’s finances.

Farage is still facing growing questions as well as a probe by Parliament’s standards commissioner over his financial affairs and support that he has received which he has failed to declare.

He has been under investigation since May over a failure to declare a £5m gift he received from a billionaire Reform donor before he became an MP.

And there are calls for another probe after he did not disclose support provided by a different political ally.

It was revealed by the Times that the Reform UK leader failed to declare benefits, including staffing, security and housing, provided by long-time aide George Cottrell before he was elected as MP for Clacton in the 2024 general election.

Under parliamentary rules, new members must declare financial interests and “registrable benefits” received in the 12 months before their election, unless where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

Appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg Fahnbulleh asked Zahawi: “Do you think it’s ok to take £5 million and not declare it?”

She asked him the same question again to which Zahawi tried to claim Farage’s conduct was within the rules, before the Labour MP had to remind him that that’s what Farage was being judged on by the committee.

Zahawi then claimed the £5million given to Farage was a ‘private gift’, before Fahnbulleh told him to ‘pull the other one’.