NIGEL Farage insists he will be cleared in a £5million donation row telling The Sun “I’m not and never have been” a crook.
The Reform leader is under investigation by Parliament’s Standards Commissioner over the “unconditional gift” he received from a donor before he became an MP.
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But he said he “cannot be bought” and even claimed he fell out with Elon Musk over attempts to sway him with cash.
Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne handed Mr Farage the lump sum in 2024 before his shock political comeback that year, but the Tories say it falls foul of strict rules over declaring gifts and donations 12 months before entering the Commons.
The crypto-investor is Reform’s biggest donor, handing the party £12million last year.
Quizzed about the revelations now being probed by Commons sleaze busters, the Clacton MP told Never Mind the Ballots: “I can’t be bought by anybody.”
And he said “is not the least bit concerned” about the investigation, arguing he has proof the seven figure sum – that he says was used to provide him with security – was above board.
Mr Farage told The Sun: “I’m utterly confident. I’ve got good lawyers, good accountants. I’ve done nothing wrong in any way at all. We’re entirely confident.”
And he claimed voters in his Essex constituency simply “don’t care”.
He said: “No one cares. They care if you’re a crook, which I’m not and never have been. But the fact that I made a few quid doing things, this doesn’t worry people at all.”
Mr Farage also claimed he had been offered “a load of money” by tech billionaire Musk in order to back certain policies.
He blasted: “I cannot be bought by anybody. No, not anyone. Not even Elon Musk…he wanted to give us a load of money if I said certain things publicly, and I refused.
He added: “I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. So I made an enemy of Elon Musk, but that shows you I’m my own man, I make my own mind up.”
In a wide ranging interview with The Sun, Mr Farage also boasted he did not claim Parliamentary expenses and batted away criticism over the £2million he has made in outside earnings since being elected as an MP, saying: “Do you know what people at Clacton say? Good luck to you, mate.”
Explaining the unusual lump sum that he insists was a gift, Mr Farage added: “It’s very unusual for someone to give up 27 years of their life to campaign for something.
“And this was given to me on an unconditional basis, completely unconditional basis. But frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.”
And he insisted it had nothing to do with his return to frontline politics just weeks later.
Responding to the Commons probe for the first time, he added: “If you get a complaint, you have to… I had five of these when I was in Brussels.
“Five fraud investigations into me when I was an MEP. I mean, you know, they came round on an annual basis. As far as this is concerned, I’m the least bit concerned.”
He went on: “They drag it on for years. Listen, I’m not in the least bit worried about it.
“I’m utterly confident. I’ve got good lawyers, good accountants. I’ve done nothing wrong in any way at all. We’re entirely confident.”
Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39106800/nigel-farage-crypto-harry-cole/
