Nigel Farage says Reform UK would ‘gladly’ accept more donations from Crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne despite probe

Nigel Farage has said he would “gladly” see Reform UK accept more funding from billionaire Christopher Harborne, who is registered to vote in the UK.

The British-Thai crypto businessman gave Mr Farage £5 million ahead of his 2024 general election bid, before announcing he would become an MP.

Mr Farage is currently under investigation by Parliament’s standards commissioner over the gift, which critics say he should have declared.

In total, Mr Harborne has donated more than £25 million to Reform UK, the political party led by Mr Farage.

The entrepreneur has reportedly registered to vote in Britain. Times It was a development on Monday that Mr Farage said he was “delighted” with.

Asked whether Reform UK would accept further donations from Mr Harborne if offered, Mr Farage said: “Gladly. Of course.”

He continued: “Of course we would and we are delighted to have him (Bay Harborne) re-registered in the UK.”

Mr Farage was speaking ahead of a rally at the Holiday Inn Norwich North on Monday evening to support Reform’s candidate in the Norfolk police and crime commissioner election.

The selection for the role was triggered by the incumbent official resigning with immediate effect earlier this month.

The government announced last year that police and crime commissioner posts would be abolished in 2028, when the next national elections are held, to save at least £100 million.

Reform’s candidate in the Norfolk poll was former Met Police detective Colin Sutton, who led the investigation that brought serial killer Levi Bellfield to justice.

Asked about the party’s prospects in the Norfolk contest after Reform came second to Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election, Mr Farage said he was confident Mr Sutton would win.

“We got 16,000 votes in Makerfield and were hoping to get a few more, but in hindsight we never would have won that by-election because there was a huge wave of support to get rid of Keir Starmer,” Mr Farage said.

“Ironically, we won a seat in Wigan on May 7 by saying vote Reform, get Starmer out.

“But now it was time to vote for Burnham and vote out Starmer.

“It was a very unusual, strange by-election.

“Look, I think we have a candidate (Mr. Sutton) who is extremely qualified to do this job, and I’m confident he’ll win.”

Mr Farage said he had no speeches aimed at those who wanted to vote for Restore, Britain’s candidate in the PCC poll.

Restore Britain was founded by Mr Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth, following his ill-tempered split from Reform UK.

Great Yarmouth First, a party linked to Restore Britain, won nine seats in last month’s local elections in Norfolk.

“I don’t have any suggestions for people who want to vote Restore,” Mr Farage said.

“The only thing I will tell them is that I am not holding anything for that party.

“But I say this to voters, not activists: Colin Sutton is the most famous detective living in Britain.

“Big cases like the (Milly) Dowler case (who was killed by Bellfield) and many more.

“And you know what, you’d better put all loyalty aside for now.

“I would say that to Labour, Conservative and Green voters too.

“This man (Mr Sutton) is clearly more than qualified for the job, so vote for talent.”

Mr Sutton said although the PCC’s role ends in 2028 there is “still two years to achieve something”.

He said he wanted to “refocus policing to some degree from cities and towns to the countryside.”

Mr Sutton said he had been a police officer for 30 years, about half of that time in uniform and half as a detective.

“I led a homicide squad for the last nine years of my service, and we had some remarkable successes,” he said.

“We achieved these remarkable achievements not because I was the best detective since Sherlock Holmes.

“It’s actually true that I’ve been able to build really effective teams that see my vision and follow it.

“I can turn that into being a PCC.”

When Mr Farage took to the stage at Monday’s rally he was greeted with applause as music blared from the speakers.

Sutton, who criticized “two-tiered policing” in his speech to the crowd, later took the stage after the candidate’s campaign video was played on big screens.

Norfolk PCC elections will be held on Thursday, July 16.

The candidates are: Christopher Brown (Liberal Democrat); Mark Buckton (Restore Britain); Beth Jones (Labour); Marcus Pearcey (Independent); Martin Schmierer (Green Party); Colin Sutton (Reform England) and Matthew Taylor (Conservative Party).