Monday briefing: An (almost) comprehensive guide to Nigel Farage’s many scandals
Good morning. It’s been three months since the Guardian revealed that Nigel Farage accepted an undeclared £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in April 2024. Since then, things have...
Good morning. It’s been three months since the Guardian revealed that Nigel Farage accepted an undeclared £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in April 2024. Since then, things have snowballed.
This weekend, it emerged that Farage struck a secret comeback deal in March and April 2024 with Richard Tice, the then-leader of Reform, for Farage to return as leader. This undermines Farage’s claim that he had no intention of returning to politics until June 2024, a defence he has used to justify failing to declare that £5m to parliamentary authorities.
The rapid speed at which these revelations are coming out can make keeping track of all the (alleged) sleaze overwhelming. And that’s just the 2026 vintage – Farage-related scandals go back half a century.
So for today’s First Edition, we present a brief-ish history of Farage allegations; a compendium of controversies. We’ve tried our best to be comprehensive, but there’s a lot – apologies if we missed anything, do get in touch. First, this weekend’s biggest stories.
Weekend roundup
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US-Israel war on Iran | Donald Trump has climbed down on planned military strikes against Iran, claiming he has responded to a request to pause any further attacks. Overnight, Trump said talks with Iran will happen on Monday but declined to set a deadline for an agreement.
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UK politics | Andy Burnham has said his programme of devolution strengthens the case for the UK to have a written constitution, a move that would fundamentally alter the workings of the state.
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Spain | The EU is to hold an urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday amid continued divisions in the bloc over the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, in north Africa.
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Heatwave | Britain could face shortages of certain foods after punishing drought in parts of England, the National Farmers’ Union has warned as a heatwave was forecast to continue into next week.
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UK policing | An undercover police unit that spied on tens of thousands of political activists had to be shut down amid severe criticisms and recriminations, the spycops public inquiry has heard.
In-depth: From Dulwich day denials to ‘missing’ EU funds
During his years at Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 80s, Farage’s contemporaries allege he was racist.
Yinka Bankole claimed that Farage told him to go “back to Africa,” on at least three occasions while they were schoolboys. Bankole was nine and 10 at the time of these alleged incidents; Farage was 17. James Varcoe recalled Farage “used the N-word”.
Jason Meredith alleged Farage called him a “paki” and told him to “go back home”. Peter Ettedgui alleged that Farage taunted him with antisemitic comments, including that “Hitler was right” and hissing to mimic the sound of gas being released after saying “gas them”. Another claimed Farage burned a copy of the school roll when there were more Patels than Smiths.
In his biography, Farage described meeting Enoch Powell during his schooldays, writing that the far-right “rivers of blood” MP had “dazzled me for once into an awestruck silence”. (Later, Farage would ask for Powell’s endorsement, and twice requested, unsucessfully, that Powell stand as a Ukip candidate.)
Chloë Deakin, a teacher at Dulwich, wrote to Dulwich’s head teacher in 1981, citing Farage’s alleged “publicly professed racist and neo-fascist views”. Deakin wrote of an incident where “Farage and others had marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs”.
In 2013, Farage responded to this letter, denying – among other things – he knew any “Hitler Youth songs, in English or German”.
“Of course I said some ridiculous things,” Farage said, “not necessarily racist things. It depends how you define it.” He also acknowledged that some of his comments “would offend deeply”.
But Farage’s denials have shifted over time. He has claimed he only engaged in “banter”, then “aggressive banter”, while labelling some claims – including those made by Bankole and Ettedgui, as “complete fantasy land”.
“Any accusation [that] I was ever involved in far-right politics is utterly untrue”, Farage has said.
The Kipper years
Nigel Farage was a founding member of Ukip in 1993, and led the party between 2006 and 2016.
Former Ukip leader Alan Sked alleged that Farage “wanted ex-National Front candidates to run” in the 1997 general election. Sked was sceptical, at which point Sked alleges that Farage said: “There’s no need to worry about the nigger vote. The nig-nogs will never vote for us.” Farage denies this.
Farage was a member of the European parliament (MEP) for Ukip from 1999 to 2020. During his time in Brussels, Farage had one of the worst attendance records, and appeared at just one of 42 fisheries committee meetings.
The behaviour of Ukip candidates under Farage’s leadership was astonishing. One Ukip parliamentary candidate referred to gay men as “fucking disgusting old poofters”, while another council candidate stated Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, was “not a real Brit’, that “most Nigerians are bad people” and that Islam is an “evil organisation”.
As it happens, my first encounter with Farage was while reporting at Ukip’s 2015 spring conference, during which I was handed a flyer which stated: “What the LGBT is achieving, of course, is a recruitment drive … They must recruit fresh blood and this is best done among children in schools, the younger the better.”
Expenses
In 2014 it emerged MEP Farage claimed £15,500 in annual expenses for office costs, despite paying no rent on the small property where he worked. In total, he claimed more than £205,000.
Almost £60,000 of “missing” European Union funds were said to have been paid into Farage’s personal bank account (Farage defended his use of these funds, and faced no formal disciplinary sanction). Farage also faced claims from former staff that he “transferred European funds” into accounts “he controlled … in the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man”.
In 2018, Farage was docked €40,000 (£35,500) from his MEP salary, after European parliament auditors concluded he had misspent EU funds in a separate inquiry.
“I can spend my EU allowances as I see fit,” Farage told Sky News. He also argued that MEPs don’t claim expenses, but were given flat-rate amounts to use at their discretion.
After the Brexit vote, Arron Banks gave Farage £450,000 in funding, which was not declared to EU authorities.
After becoming MP for Clacton in 2024, Farage was found to have breached the MPs’ code of conduct 17 times, failing to declare £380,000 of income on time. Since becoming an MP in 2024, Farage’s income has reached £2m – with criticism mounting over his non-parliamentary work. In 2025, Farage declared a £400,000 a year salary for promoting gold bullion for four hours per month.
Miscellaneous
In an LBC interview the same year, Farage said you’d be concerned if Romanians moved in next door, but not Germans. “You know what the difference is,” Farage said. He later backtracked.
Farage sold videos in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, referenced antisemitic conspiracy theories, called for the release of a convicted sex offender, expressed support for the IRA and made misogynistic remarks – including about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s breasts.
Farage denies a 2006 story in which a 25-year-old woman allegedly took him to her home, staggering drunk, from a pub where, she claims, they made love seven times after which Farage was “snoring like a horse”.
The £5m
Earlier this year, the Guardian broke the story that Farage received £5m from Thailand-based crypto tycoon and Reform donor Christopher Harborne. The cash arrived shortly after Farage said he needed “a million a year” to stand as MP. Farage failed to declare the donation to parliamentary authorities, and has been referred to the parliament’s standards watchdog. He subsequently called the Clacton byelection. When asked what he has done with the £5m, Farage told the BBC “literally none of your business”.
Questions remain over properties connected to Farage, including over a £1.4m cash-purchase of a home made shortly after Farage received the donation. Reform UK said the home was bought using Farage’s I’m a Celebrity fee, however company accounts appear to suggest this income remained in Farage’s account post-purchase. Questions remain over an £885,000 Clacton property that Farage claimed to have bought, but is actually owned by his girlfriend, Laure Ferrari. She has refused to confirm how she paid for the house.
A wider set of questions about Farage and Reform’s funding have emerged, centering on convicted fraudster (and Harborne pal) George Cottrell, who secretly bankrolled Farage. Again, all undeclared. Cottrell was routinely introduced as Farage’s chief of staff in the past, suggesting he had significant influence, despite Reform stating he has never held an official party position.
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It’s quite the wrap sheet for a man whose party had spent the last 18 months leading national opinion polls. (And we didn’t even manage to squeeze everything in.) Until recently, Farage’s popularity appeared impregnable. But with Labour – for now, at least – overtaking Reform, his byelection sideshow failing to deliver distraction and no letup in the slew of damaging stories, perhaps all this scandal is starting to stick.
The week to come
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Today | Nominations for the Scottish Labour leadership open, after Anas Sarwar’s surprise resignation to join the House of Lords and take up post as a UK trade minister.
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Tuesday | The next round of US-brokered peace talks Israel and Lebanon are due to resume in Rome.
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Friday | The inauguration of Colombia’s incoming far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella will take place in the city of Cali.
What else we’ve been enjoying
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I loved Emma Beddingfield’s tips on how to survive the rest of summer – and yes, I will be treating myself like a beloved dog for the next month or so! Poppy Noor, newsletters team
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Speeding tickets! Takeaways! Err, big snake plants!? I lapped up every line of this story, which saw five couples keep separate spending diaries, before they revealed all to their partner. Michael
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If you haven’t encountered Jimothy the raccoon yet (where have you been!), Elle Hunt’s piece on why so many love him is a great place to start. Poppy
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Jason Arday was Cambridge University’s youngest-ever Black professor. Then questions emerged about his work, as did scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism. It’s a complex topic, which Lanre Bakare navigates expertly in his brilliant reporting. Michael
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First Edition alumnus Patrick Greenfield has written an excellent story about the exceptionally weird work of Alfred Drummond-Herdman, who creates timelapse footage of fungus on faeces, to understand more about the world around us. Poppy
Sport
Tour de France Femmes | The Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes took her second win in this year’s Tour de France Femmes in Geneva, further extending her overall lead in the nine-day race.
Commonwealth Games | This year’s Commonwealth Games have been “phenomenal” and have shown the events have the potential to carry on for another 100 years, the chief executive of Glasgow 2026 has told the Guardian.
Fifa | Gianni Infantino is facing a rebellion from members of the Fifa council who are attempting to force an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that could develop into a full-blown leadership challenge. In an exclusive, the Guardian has learned that moves to call an EGM were already under way before the emergence of Infantino’s abortive plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup.
The front pages
“UK facing food shortages due to drought, say farmers”, is the Guardian’s front page today.
The Telegraph leads on “Police warn early release will force patrol cuts”, the Times has “Toll of schooling ‘straighjacket’”, the Mail runs with “Burnham must scrap ‘disastrous’ pro-union strike laws” and the i Paper says “Two-thirds back wealth tax on assets worth more than £10m”. The Express runs with “1,500 foreign criminals in housing paid for by you”, and the FT has “US companies book ‘rock solid’ profits despite consumers’ struggle with costs”.
The Mirror has a “royal exclusive” with “Harry: Dad, let the world see us together”, and lastly, Metro on the fuel crisis writes “Tanks for nothing!”.
Today in Focus
The exonerated prisoner kicked out of office by Republicans
Calvin Duncan spent 28 years in a notorious Louisiana prison for a murder he didn’t commit. After he was finally exonerated, he decided to run for an administrative role that would allow him to help prisoners gain much-needed access to their criminal records. But a Republican plot to keep him from taking up that role ended his incredibly short-lived political career. Olly Laughland tells Annie Kelly why Calvin’s story is indicative of what he’s calling “competitive authoritarianism” in Trump 2.0.
Cartoon of the day | Tom Gauld
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
One of the oldest cultural events in Europe is celebrating its 850th birthday by going back to its roots at the Welsh castle where a prince first held it in 1176. The eisteddfod moves between north and south Wales each year, prompting this year’s creative director to describe its as a “Glastonbury on wheels”.
Beyond its musical offerings, the event – running until Saturday – also celebrates the Welsh language, culture and creativity. The more than 1,000 events represent, for some revellers, not only pageantry but a kind of homecoming. As Naomi Chiffi, from Tenby, explains: “My kids are all in Welsh-medium education; the first Welsh school in Tenby opened a decade ago now. Events like this on our doorstep show them that the language is a living, fun thing.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
