Nigel Farage accused of under-declaring private jet loan from crypto billionaire
Nigel Farage has been accused of significantly under-reporting a donation from billionaire crypto backer Christopher Harborne, potentially worth hundreds of thousands.
Labor leader Anna Turley has written to the Reform England leader demanding an explanation about the value of a private jet he was loaned to fly to Mauritius as part of a failed attempt to visit the Chagos Islands.
Mr Farage declared the gift from Thailand-based businessman Mr Harborne to be £25,000; this is double his original declaration of £12,500.
But Ms Turley claims the commercial market rate for private jet charter is $11,500 (£8,575) an hour, and that the real value could be between $250,000 (£186,411) and $700,000 (£521,951), given the flight took 23 hours and the plane was at Mr Farage’s disposal for two-and-a-half days.
“Your valuation of this donation at £12,500 (later changed to £25,000) has no relationship to the market rate of any other provider of equivalent services available in the private jet charter industry,” Ms Turley said.
The row comes after Mr Farage faced questions and a Parliamentary watchdog inquiry over his failure to declare a £5 million donation from Mr Harborne, which he claimed was a “gift” for his personal security.
Raising a series of questions about the private jet’s credit, Ms Turley warned: “If you cannot provide anything less than a full and accurate account, I will be forced to refer the matter to Parliamentary officials.”
Mr Farage said at the time that he was flying to the Maldives to join a delegation bringing “humanitarian aid” to the Chagossians trying to establish settlement on one of the outer islands.
He accused the British government of blocking his access to the Chagos Islands as he campaigned against Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to hand over sovereignty of the region to Mauritius.
Mr Harborne’s donations to Mr Farage and Reform UK have been a particular controversy for the party after he gifted the party £9 million last August – the largest donation from a living person to a political party in history – and a further £3 million this year.
Mr Farage’s recent disclosure of the £5 million “gift” from the crypto entrepreneur prompted an investigation by Westminster’s standards watchdog into whether Mr Farage broke Commons rules by not declaring it after his election in 2024.
Mr Farage said the money was a “personal” gift he received before he decided to stand for Parliament again and was meant to be used for his private security for the rest of his life. Sun it was “the reward for 27 years of campaigning for Brexit”.
The Clacton MP also faced further calls for transparency earlier this month after it was reported that he had purchased a £1.4 million house with cash in 2024, shortly after receiving the gift from Mr Harborne.
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
