Sarah Murphy

@13sarahmurphy.bsky.social

47154 Followers 1620 Following

Welcome to my shiny new echo chamber… hoping here that I can keep it clean and tidy and ‘woke’. IRL - lawyer (of the lefty, campaigning variety).

Farage odds on to hold Clacton seat but nationwide poll backs Binface Nigel Farage is expected to hold on to his Clacton Parliamentary seat with the odds placed at 1-100 following a boycott from the main political parties. While most bookmakers have Far-age down to win 1-100, rather than the early 1-7 odds before his main opposition dropped out, the latest polling shows he would be beaten by Count Binface if the whole nation was voting. Polling by More in Common shows that 37 percent of Britons would prefer to be represented by the self-professed "intergalactie space war-rior" dressed in a long silver cape and dustbin-shaped helmet, while 32 per cent would back Farage. But the likely victory in Clacton has led Parage to believe he could "replicate this level of support across Essex", with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch's seat of North West Essex in his sights. He told The Telegraph that Reform will "pump big resources" into Essex, suggesting that halfthe Shadow Cabinet - including the opposition leader - could lose their seats at the next election. Badenoch recently said in a message to Clacton residents that they "deserve better" than Farage, criti-cising the "needless election" and adding that he should "not be ex-empt" from the Parliamentary rules. His decision to force a bv-election by standing down last month to hold a "people versus the establishment" vote may have backfired. The opposition branded it a "media cireus" and an attempt to evade scrutiny, as stepping down as an MP paused an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into his finances. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, had been investigating undeclared donations, including a £5m gift from Thai-based cryptocurrency billionaire Harborne. That investigation was paused when Farage resigned his seat, but will resume if he wins the by-election. If the Parliamentary watchdog rules against him, he could face a second by-election - this time, against all the major political parties.
Yusuf is not really unusual in Reform's ecosystem - he is just a less sophisticated version of the main man himself, Farage. Yusuf casts politics as a battle between loyalists and traitors. He trades in the rhetoric of the blood-dimmed tide, the vague promise of revenge which is simultaneously deniable and yet tailored for the ears of those who want to hear it. He tells a story of national victimhood and of a treasonous elite which has undermined us. He plans to implement extreme programmes involving US-style ICE raids with massive detention camps. In short, he trades in extremist rhetoric and proposes extremist ideas. The reason Farage resists doing anything about him is because Yusuf is ultimately symptomatic of the entire project. He is a fair reflection of its manner and its values.
Photo of burning building/hotel Racists think they can do what they like in Britain. We can prove them wrong
REFORM UK Farage to give Yusuf a 'ticking off' By George Thompson Nigel Farage said yesterday that he would give his Reform UK ally Zia Yusuf a "ticking off" after he branded a former Conservative minister a "traitor to Britain". Yusuf, Reform's home affairs spokesman, launched an attack on Sir Ben Wallace on Monday, branding him a "moron" before suggesting he should be prosecuted "for treason for importing thousands of unvetted Afghans to Britain". Farage said that calling Wallace - who served in the Scots Guards - a traitor was "too strong a word". The Reform leader told The Sun: "I should give him a ticking off, don't worry." The row erupted after Wallace, a former defence secretary, criticised Reform's plans to send foreign national offenders to jails abroad. Responding, Yusufargued on X his party's plans were a "direct response to your government's failures" and accused him of having secretly "im-ported" thousands of Afghan migrants to the UK. Wallace told Times Radio that Yusuf should "apologise for his language"
Zia Yusuf v • @ZiaYusufUK• 19h X Should Ben Wallace be prosecuted for treason for importing thousands of unvetted Afghans to Britain - including Taliban fighters and rapists - and taking out an injunction to keep it secret? Yes No 15,446 votes • 4 hours 1 minute left
Brexit Labour seeking 'deeper relationship' with EU under Burnham, new minister says Exclusive: Hamish Falconer wants 'sense of renewed pace' in post-Brexit talks while staying within Labour's red lines
The biggest problem with the Labour Government's failure on this issue is that it has allowed the far right to frame these incidents in their own terms. This failure is then reflected in the media and could be seen clearly in the BBC's typically cowardly coverage of the attacks, which described the pogrom as merely being "disorder linked to anti immigration protest" whilst shamefully referring to the victims of the mob as being "alleged asylum seekers". Alleged asylum seekers! As if seeking asylum from war, torture and persecution is some kind of shameful crime.
One senior source said they believed Farage had been poorly advised over calling the by-election in Clacton. They said that "young advisers" around Farage had not checked whether the standards' commissioner's investigation would continue in the event of the by-election and they had incorrectly assumed it would not. They also criticised "massive salaries" paid to staff who they said were "letting Nigel down".
Restore Reform pact unlikely, as ‘Farage simply can't be trusted' Extract Bad blood will prevent rival leaders uniting in long term, insiders insist Sitting in his living room, Rupert Lowe made a bold offer on Sunday to his former boss turned bitter enemy, Nigel Farage. "Nigel, my message is simple," the Restore Britain leader intoned in a video on X, which has racked up 4.6 million views. "If you are prepared to work together around serious policies, serious reform and serious government, then so are we" It came after his fledgling party again did better than expected in the Manchester mayoral election picking up 9 per cent of the vote. Not enough to have seen a united party of the hard right beat Labour but enough to do serious damage to Reform at a general election. A day later, Nigel Farage (inset) delivered his response. "If it was the offer of a deal, it came in a very unusual way," he said. "I have responded to it potentially with an open mind, but I'm certainly not going to be ditching people who I view to be allies and a great asset." In short, no headlong rush into negotiations, but a door seemingly left ajar. Despite these overtures, insiders in both Reform and Restore think that the bad blood between Farage and Lowe will prevent them from uniting in the long-run. Within Reform, the view is that Lowe sprang his offer on Farage with the purpose of embarrassing him and eliciting a rebuff. A Reform councillor said: "If there was ever any sort of approach to be had, it's done in private, it's done quite often initially through intermediaries. Agreement on immigration belies differences in other areas, with Reform insiders dismissing a number of the items Lowe mentioned in the video as too extreme. Lowe demanded "the banning of both halal and kosher slaughter" He also said he wants a capital punishment referendum. Lowe named several criminals residing in British prisons. The prospect of retrospective death penalties was too much even for some Reformers.
The Tory leader appeared on Radio 4 this morning and delivered one of the most hopeless political interviews in recent memory. She is either so stupid that she does not understand the logical fallacies she was uttering or so cynical that she will say anything to defend her position. The first problem she faced was one of double standards. Last month, Badenoch orchestrated a purge of the Conservative Parliamentary Party, insisting that anyone who still believed in Britain's membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or net zero was to be blocked from standing as a candidate at the next election. It was a concerted effort to eradicate any remaining lingering elements of moderation or good judgement from the party. She is now in the frankly insane position of refusing to accept former Tory MPs Grant Shapps or Gavin Barwell as representatives, but enthusiastically giving the all-clear to a former neo-Nazi.
Badenoch defends former neo-Nazi pick as council candidate By Will Meakin-Durrant Kemi Badenoch has said her party "believes in second chances". , after the Conservatives selected a former neo-Nazi once jailed for harassing a Jewish former MP as a local election candidate. Joshua Bonehill-Paine posted on social media that he was "tremendously proud" that he has been chosen to stand for election to Somerset Coun-cil, in the Crewkerne South ward. Bonehill-Paine (inset) was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment. He wrote several blog posts about the former Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Baroness Luciana Berger, labelling her "an evil money-grabber" with a "deep-rooted hatred of men". He was previously jailed for producing an ad illustrated with a picture of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, which promised "an absolute gas" at a rally in Golders Green, north London. Badenoch said: "I want to be very clear - and I think people can look at me and know that I'm not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis. "Josh is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and on countering extremism. "Yes, he [has] previously convicted but he has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew that he had caused previously. "And the Conservative Party believes in second chances."
Telegraph headline and photo of Farage at his silly flag-laden press conference. Farage: “Reform would stop Channel migrants in a fortnight”
1. Battle of Ceuta Events of the past few days in Europe have been some of the most disturbing in many years - and not for the reasons given by much of the mainstream media. A consistent theme of Wealth of Nations since its launch has been the real threats to European integration - and thus to the continent's long-term sovereignty, security and prosperity - from a pan-European far right fired by ethno-nationalism and a US government pathologically hostile to the EU that is waging a "civilisational" campaign against European governments whose goal is the vassalisation of European states (see Unhappy Vassals). All of these dangers have been in stark display in recent days.
Farage struck deal to return as leader long before election Reform chief had insisted he was not involved in politics until Sunak called surprise 2024 vote Extracts; Nigel Farage struck a secret deal to return as Reform UK leader months before the general election. Farage negotiated the pact with Richard Tice, then the leader, in March and April 2024. George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who had been secretly bankrolling Farage, supervised the discussions. Under the terms of the deal, Reform agreed to repay or write off more than £1 million in outstand ing loans it had taken from Tice's company upon Farage becoming leader. The deal was first presented by Farage and Cottrell to the party's treasurer in mid-May. Its existence undermines the Reform leader's claim that he had no intention until June 2024 of returning to politics. Farage has used this to defend his failure to declare donations made to him in the year before he was elected as an MP, which triggered two parliamentary investigations. Last night, Reform sources acknowledged the existence of the deal but insisted it had been drafted for if, not when, Farage became leader. Asked why he would have signed such an agreement if he had no intention of returning as leader, they said it kept his options open. They said Farage had assumed he would focus his energies on campaigning for Donald Trump in that year's US presidential election. Farage has claimed repeatedly that he did not need to declare a £5 million gift from the crypto--billionaire Christopher Harborne or in-kind benefits from Cottrell, as he was a media personality at the time. MPs must declare any benefit in any way connected to their "political activities" received in the 12 months before their election. He told the "anti-woke" Trigger-nometry podcast last month: "At that period of my life, from 2021 to the third of June 2024, I was a broadcaster… I was somebody that promoted financial market products, I was an influencer, I wasn't in politics."
Ceuta is no open door to the EU: anyone seeking to travel from there to the Spanish mainland must pass through further border checks. Despite a Spanish Supreme Court ruling this month that made many swimmers think they could not be sent back, Spain said that by 6pm on Friday 48,300 had voluntarily returned to Morocco.
Immigration Stations Whenever Nigel Farage has been in trouble throughout his career he has always resorted to pulling a big lever marked 'immigration' in order to get himself out of it. This time is no different. According to a new report by Bloomberg, the Reform leader is planning to hold "multiple press conferences on immigration" in the coming days and weeks in order to "turn public attention to the issue." This is obviously deeply cynical.
INDEPENDENT Bev Craig elected mayor of Greater Manchester in huge Labour victory over Reform
At any given moment you could ask yourself: What's the most cynical, self-interested, irresponsible and yet also incredibly basic thing you could do now, and that's precisely what he'll do - whether it's making anti-immigration videos or joining Reform. And yet, despite the obviousness of the action itself, he will always pursue it with this look of deep seriousness, as if he were Napoleon devising the Italian campaign.
Jenrick giving a speech with a flash card saying ‘DEATH TAX’ behind him. When you've lost the trust of GB News, when you're too deranged, too extreme and too outright mendacious for your biggest fan, then you know you are in trouble. You can almost sense the panic beginning to set in at Reform HQ.
Not so long ago, we had to live with this venal mendacity on a daily basis. Now it all feels much quieter, as if you were overhearing someone talking in a nearby house. Farage's relevance is dwindling. In everything he does, he looks ridiculous or dangerous. For the time being at least, he seems to be fading away. His fading relevance is an absolute pleasure to behold.
EUROPE UK firms could lose out as EU gets better tariff rates By Holly Williams Donald Trump's latest tariffs have raised fears that British exporters could lose out after the EU secured more favourable terms, although the President launched a scathing attack on the bloc. The UK is facing a 10 per cent tariff that replaces an equivalent levy that expired yesterday, having been declared illegal by the US Supreme Court in February. The EU rate was reduced from 15 to 10 per cent. William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that, while it would be "business as usual" for most British firms exporting to the US, the UK must continue negotiating with the US over tariffs. "There will be concerns about the loss of the UK's competitive advantage over the EU and other countries which have secured a more favour-able deal in other sectors," he added. A government spokesperson said: "The preferential access secured under our agreement with the United States remains in place." Trump later accused the EU of viewing America as a "piggybank," and called for an investigation into practices such as fining US tech firms that he claimed were "robbing American companies" "The EU will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct," he said.
Reform tells councillors to say donation inquiry is a 'hit job' Extracts: Reform UK has instructed its thousands of councillors to describe a police inquiry into donations from the mother of George Cottrell as an establishment stitch-up, The Times can reveal. Leaked internal briefing documents circulated to the party’s representatives in local government included instructions to respond to questions about the Metropolitan Police investigation with: “It is now clear that the establishment will try anything to stop us.” Councillors were also instructed to respond to questions with: “The British people are tired of the establishment media doing anything they can to stop Reform. A daily routine of hit jobs and smears will not deter us from winning the next general election and fixing broken Britain.” The Met launched a criminal investi- gation into at least £500,000 of donations made to Reform UK by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of the crypto-gambler and convicted fraudster “Posh George”, whom an Insight investigation found has secretly been funding Nigel Farage. George Cottrell was reportedly questioned under caution by police in relation to the investigation. The parliamentary commissioner for standards opened an investigation into Cottrell’s support for Farage, as well as into a previous undeclared £5 million donation from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. The investigations were halted after Farage resigned and called a by-election in his constituency, Clacton, in Essex. The briefing includes detailed instructions on how to challenge media scrutiny of the party and Farage’s finances, and his relation to Cottrell. A Reform spokesman said: “The British people are tired of the establishment media doing anything they can to stop Reform. A daily routine of hit jobs and smears will not deter us from winning the next general election and fixing broken Britain. It’s now clear that the establishment will try anything to stop us.”
I gave Posh George second chance Nigel Farage says the convicted criminal’s undeclared donations to the Reform leader were not a matter of public interest and he believes in ‘Christian forgiveness’ Extract: Cottrell, 32, an aristocrat who was convicted of fraud in the US, secretly bankrolled Farage and made undisclosed donations to Reform. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened an investigation into Cottrell’s support, which was paused after Farage resigned and called a by-election in his constituency of Clacton in Essex. The Reform leader made reference to the Insight report in his resignation speech, calling it an “establishment hit job”, but did not mention Cottrell. He broke his silence on the man known as Posh George yesterday, defending their relationship in an interview with Triggernometry, a self-described antiwoke podcast. He said Cottrell had paid for his accommodation and social media, but added that his “help” was “not a matter of public interest.” Farage claimed the support was “irrelevant” and “literally no one’s business” as he “wasn’t in politics” at that time. Farage, who was the honorary president of Reform before becoming an MP, said: “From 2021 to the 3rd of June 2024 [when he announced he would run in Clacton], I was a broadcaster, I was someone that appeared on celebrity TV programmes, I was somebody that promoted some financial market products ... I was an influencer ... so the fact that George did me a favour with those things is not a matter of public interest or record.” Insight revealed this month that Cottrell paid for Farage’s back office, private security, staff, transport and accommodation in the year before the election. He also hired and paid a team of three to reinvent Farage’s social media presence, producing content on immigration, human rights law and political correctness, as well as inviting people to vote for Reform. None of this was declared, in an apparent breach of parliamentary activities.
Rather than genuinely attempt to unite the progressive majority of voters around a common agenda of cutting the cost of living and building back the economy, Burnham risks instead seeking to merely resurrect the failed 'Blue Labour' agenda of relentlessly targeting migrants, in the hope that it will somehow kill off support for Reform. At the centre of this belief is the idea that the real problem with the failed "hero voter" strategy of Morgan McSweeney is not that it was both morally bankrupt and politically self-defeating, but that it was simply not executed properly and convincingly enough by Starmer.
Reform UK and the toxic political discourse 2 out of 5 letters all condemning Farage’s divisive conduct Sir, Huge Rifkind rightly exposes the contradiction at the heart of Reform UK's position ("Reform can't have it both ways on hurty words", Jul 15). Its leaders demand more protection for politicians from abuse and violence, yet when I urged Nigel Farage simply to respect the police's request not to speculate about Ann Widdecombe's tragic death, Reform's "shadow home secretary", Zia Yusuf, responded not with civil argument but by publicly denouncing me as "depraved" and resurrecting a conviction 1 got 40 years ago under discriminatory laws that parliament has since recognised were unjust. The result has been a torrent of vitriol directed at me, including from Arron Banks and Laila Cunningham. Political leaders cannot credibly deplore today's toxic discourse while helping to fuel it. If Reform wishes to be taken seriously as a party of government, it should begin by practising the civility and restraint it so readily demands of others. K Harvey Proctor Conservative MP, 1979-87 Grantham, Lincs Sir, Nigel Farage has played the victim card far too soon. Resigning to trigger an unnecessary by-election is a costly political stunt and the other parties are quite right to refuse to participate. If he is re-elected, the standards inquiry into his £5 million gift will simply resume. But this raises a constitutional question. If an MP cannot serve under scrutiny, and quits, they should be barred from standing in the resulting by-election. To paint oneself into a corner and demand the public pay for an escape door is absurd. An honourable politician would respect the regulatory process; an honourable man would withdraw from active politics. David Dickinson Stadtschlaining, Austria
Sir, I have heard many complaints from Reform UK about the abuse its MPs receive. Can this be the same party that applauded the man who shouted abuse at the chancellor of the exchequer at a petrol station? Gareth Wainwright Cardiff
Mr Khan said "I'm not going to allow racists to intimidate me" Needing 24-hour police protection due to the “colour of his skin and the god he worships" has been "tough" on his family, the mayor of London has said. Sadiq Khan told a fringe event at Labour's annual conference he had received "death threats" and "vitriol" since becoming mayor in 2016. Mr Khan said the response of England footballers to the racist abuse they suffered after the Euro 2020 gave him "confidence to talk about it myself"
Why Nigel's no longer a man of the people Populism usually ends in the erosion of democracy, and Farage's nonsensical by-election couldn't sum that up better Daniel Finkelstein @dannythefink
Nigel Farage declined offer of taxpayer-funded security The Reform leader's spokesman told The i Paper it was a downgrade on the state-funded security he had previously received 13 July 2026, 3.10pm Nigel Farage, who is routinely accompanied by bodyguards, has claimed to be "the most physically and verbally attacked public figure or politician of modern times"
This is an affront to Speaker Lindsey Hoyle, who takes MPs' safety extremely seriously. It is also incorrect. A House of Commons spokesperson said: "All MPs are offered appropriate security measures." The plain intention of this commentary is to consolidate the sense of an establishment plot, in this case suggesting senior figures in Parliament are trying to expose Reform politicians to murder. It is mad and it is outrageous. The commentary from Reform in the wake of the killing is not random. It is not a question of incontinence. It has a purpose. It is intended to use the killing of their own colleague to advance their political agenda.
Farage Farrago The questions facing the Reform UK leader over his financial disclosures are mounting. The circus around the Clacton by-election won't make them go away Extract Nigel Farage has a list of questions to answer, a list that is growing and becoming increasingly serious for the Reform UK leader. At the top remains the biggest of them all, where his recent problems stem from: why did he not declare the £5 million “gift” from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, despite the parliamentary guidance suggesting he should have done so? Mr Farage, who has not taken questions from journalists or hosted a press conference for some weeks, continues to insist he has done nothing wrong. But there has been no credible explanation of why this is so. Next, Mr Farage should explain why he has failed to be open and transparent about support received from George Cottrell, his 32-yr old aide who was once jailed for wire fraud. The latest revelations suggest that Mr Cottrell made undisclosed donations to Reform UK by using his own money to cover party office costs, including computer tools and software. Yet, as The Sunday Times has reported, these donations were not recorded by the Electoral Commission. It is also unclear whether Mr Cottrell was a permissible donor given that he was seemingly a tax resident of Montenegro and not registered to vote in the UK when the donations were made. Mr Farage simply cannot wish away these queries. Instead of coming clean by opening his books and those of his party, Mr Farage has attempted to muddy the waters by calling a needless byelection in his Clacton constituency. The decision by the main political parties not to stand has further added to a sense that Reform is repeating the mistakes of his previous political endeavours in becoming a vehicle for chaos. It will do no good to Mr Farage’s hopes of becoming [PM] one day — spending this summer arguing with novelty candidates just as a new prime minister enters 10 Downing St
Charge sheet All the major claims against the Reform UK leader and his party Nigel Farage’s finances are under increasing scrutiny as the Reform UK leader and his party face fresh allegations over donations and support. The former UKIP leader is the subject of a parliamentary standards inquiry over £5m he received from Thai-based crypto billionaire and Reform backer Christopher Harborne. He is also facing questions about financial support from convicted fraudster and crypto gambler George Cottrell, known as “Posh George”, who has funded Farage’s office and security staff. Reform and Farage have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing through accepting donations. Here, The i Paper takes a look at the key allegations they are now facing. Criminal investigation into Reform donations Headings and extracts: 1) Criminal investigation into Reform donations The Metropolitan Police has been investigating £500,000 in donations from Cottrell’s mother to Reform for more than a year, The Times has reported. 2) £5m donation from crypto billionaire Farage is being investigated by Parliament’s ethics watchdog for accepting a £5m undeclared gift from Christopher Harborne, Reform’s largest financial backer. 3) Money-laundering probe A report in The Guardian suggested on Wednesday that bankers raised concerns to the National Crime Agency through suspicious activity reports (SARs) about at least four transactions involving senior Reform leaders. These include the £5m gift to Farage and a £1m donation from Cottrell’s mother to Britain Means Business, described as a fundraising vehicle for Reform which deputy leader Richard Tice is a director of.
More than half of voters view Farage and Reform as 'very sleazy' as Clacton byelection called for 13 August-UK politics live The negative perception of the party and its leader has grown, according to a polling expert Andrew Sparrow Fri 10 Jul 2026 12.32 BST Poster of Nigel Farage at a bus stop Albert Embankment Prince Consort House Caption: "I WAS GIVEN £5 MILLION AND DIDN'T DECLARE IT" - SAID NO HONEST POLITICIAN EVER
Large photo of Count Binface. The establishment has infiltrated phone-ins Tom Peck Political Sketch Extract Just 48 hours after the “historic” launch of “the People vs the Establishment” by-election in Clacton, what more could a man like Jenrick wish for than such a precious opportunity as this? He let out a little smile. He… braced for 180 solid minutes of campaigning. The mic would be his sword, the mid-morning radio world his stage. “The people” would flock to the phone lines to join him, to answer Nigel’s call and take the chance “to stick two fingers up to the establishment”. Sadly, no doubt a result of some technical malfunction, it didn’t work out that way. None of “the people” managed to get through. Every call, one after the other, was just establishment, establishment, establishment. How had they done it? Best not to ask. That’s how the establishment works. Their tentacles are everywhere. They’re at the top of every major institution. They even, according to some of the more unhinged corners of the internet, hide in bins and pretend to be intergalactic space lords. “Linda from Brentwood” set events in motion, calling Farage “repulsive”. I mean, she said she was from Brentwood, but my daughter’s swimming teacher is called Linda and she’s from Brentwood and it wasn’t her, so clearly whoever was calling in was just part of the deepstate conspiracy to take Nigel down. The next establishment stooge was a man claiming to be called Al, who said he was from Glasgow. “I think Farage is throwing toys out of his pram,” he said. “He cannot deal with challenge, and so he has to have some kind of prima donna reaction. The other parties shouldn’t rise to the bait, he’s just being a child.” He hung up shortly afterwards, and was no doubt straight on to his accountant to ensure the agreed fee had been wired over from his Davos paymasters. The establishment calls just kept on coming. Not one “person” from “the people” seemed to get through.
The Spectator @spectator X.com It's the simmering classism of the Clacton mockers that is most annoying. Watching plummy London leftists squeal over a possible Count Binface victory is enough to make you gag. Clacton is a real place with real people. These are struggling people of the working class, who voted for Brexit and are concerned about successive governments' abandonment of Britain's borders. Their town is not a moral playpen for smug outsiders to act out their haughty disregard for Nigel Farage. Show some respect, for the people of Clacton and for England's hard-won democracy. • Brendan O'Neill
REFORM ALREADY DELIVERING ON ELECTION PROMISES EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE NOT IN POWER YET by Our Political Staff Clare Voyant WITH only three years to go before the next election Reform is already achieving extraordinary results in terms of actual delivery of key manifesto pledges: • HOME ownership. Today Reform announces a 400 percent increase in home ownership for Nigel Farage, who goes from owning one to co-owning an incredible FIVE homes. And all this since 2020. If this figure was repeated up and down the country, as it will be, everybody will be the proud owner of five houses, unless they can't afford any because they haven't been billionaire. JOB numbers. Today the Financial Conduct Authority announced the recruitment of hundreds of additional staff to look into Nigel Farage's extremely dodgy finances. This is a massive increase in opportunities for employment and if repeated up and down the country would mean that the entire population was investigating Nigel Farage - as it should be. • Minimum wage. Today Reform announced that Nigel Farage had been paid £270,000 for 12 hours' work promoting gold bullion. This works out at £22,500 per hour, and if repeated up and down the country would mean that the entire population would be billionaires who could then donate money to Nigel Farage for his own personal security/thank you for his hard work in delivering Brexit. • Immigration. Today Reform announced that migration is up by only one, as crypto-billionaire and political donor Christopher Harborne has entered Britain from Thailand in search of a better life. Harborne has announced that he wishes to register as a British voter. If this were repeated up and down the country Britain would be flooded with billionaires voting for Reform and ensuring Nigel Farage entered Number 10 as a sixth property in his expanding portfolio. We say DON'T STOP THE VOTES!
The Independent Now firmly in the headlines, the convicted criminal, known to his friends as "Posh George", could well be the catalyst to the end of Farage's bid to become prime minister. (Photo of Cottrell (left), with a milkshake-covered Farage in Clacton two years ago (Getty))
The book provides guidance on how to act if bribery is found out, stating: "lawyer up immediately" "At every step and every turn, at every possible point, counter and attack the accuser from all sides. Use the courts, mass media, personal media and hire people to write and place stories." Cottrell was himself arrested by US federal agents in 2016 on charges of extortion, money laundering and fraud, later pleading guilty to a single charge of wire fraud.
Notice the one-two punch there. First the legal threat. This is an attempt to silence The Sunday Times and other journalists from covering the story. Given that Jenrick tacitly stood the story up yesterday by failing to challenge any of the pieces of information on which it is based, Farage is plainly using this to scare off reporters rather than out of any genuine sense he might win in court. Then comes the classic conspiracy theory narrative: the Establishment stitch-up. It's the same story these guys always tell when they're caught, from Donald Trump to Russell Brand. The great defensive architecture of populism is that its leaders can brand any inconvenient allegation an elite plot. A few gullible fools will believe them, but not enough. Farage is now in an exquisitely dangerous situation. He is subject to a ferocious scandal where he cannot get his story straight and his excuses raise more questions than they answer. The plain facts of the case, in my view, suggest that we can expect a severe report by the parliamentary standards watchdog, including a possible suspension from the Commons.
George Cottrell, a convicted criminal, had no official party role (George Greenwood and Gabriel Pogrund write) A convicted criminal and crypto-gambler handed out a business card printed with the Reform UK logo and Nigel Farage's official email address, despite having no formal role in the party, The Times can reveal. George Cottrell, 32, is at the centre of a Sunday Times Insight investigation that led to Farage, the Reform leader, being referred to the parliamentary commissioner for standards yesterday. The investigation revealed that Far-age did not declare benefits he received from Cottrell, including staff, security and use of a property from the crypto-gambler who once pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was imprisoned in the United States.
INDEPENDENT NEWS SPORT VOICES CULTURE CLIMATE UK POLITICS Farage's future in doubt as panic sets in over fresh allegations • Nigel Farage hits out at 'establishment hit job' over accusations • Betting markets say Farage could quit. Without him, there's no Reform • Robert Jenrick and Trevor Phillips clash over Nigel Farage allegations • Nigel Farage's dodgy dealings are finally pushing him to the brink
He was labelled "deceptive" by a judge for legally changing his name from "Cottrell" to "Cotrel". Today he flies on private jets and makes bank transfers under the alias "George Co" and is a key player in a crypto gambling company owned via a complex offshore structure whose ownership is invisible to the public. Yet his relationship with Farage, whom he calls "Daddy", has been most opaque. It is so important to the Reform leader that lying in one of Cottrell's homes is a copy of Farage's maiden speech as an MP. The Clacton MP signed it by hand as a tribute to his friend's support, writing: "Thank you for everything! Nigel Farage".
So it was that, in 2014, Cottrell offered anonymous drug dealers help laundering the proceeds of crime into bitcoin. Adopting the pseudonym "Bill", he travelled to Las Vegas to meet his clients in the flesh, outlining how he could move hundreds of thousands of dollars and brokering a deal to launder an initial $20,000. It would be the source of his downfall in due course — but first Cottrell pivoted into politics. Photo of Farage with George Cottrell
Sunday Times front page Revealed: Nigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminal George Cottrell provided staff, security and housing ● The benefits were not declared to Commons ● Crypto gambler Cottrell is seeking pardon from Trump Extract Nigel Farage failed to disclose that a convicted criminal and cryptogambler funded his operation in the year before his election to parliament. The Reform leader appears to have broken parliamentary rules by accepting security, drivers, staff and accommodation paid for by George Cottrell, who was jailed for participating in a US money laundering conspiracy. Farage did not declare benefits that included the recruitment of a right-wing activist who managed his social media, produced political content, and helped him gain hundreds of thousands of followers. The Reform leader has continued to benefit from the support of Cottrell, 32, since his election to the Commons in 2024. He has repeatedly stayed at a five-storey townhouse near Buckingham Palace which is rented by the fraudster and thought to cost tens of thousands of pounds a month. Cottrell, who we can reveal is also a key figure in an offshore bookmaker implicated in potentially criminal betting, has no official role in Reform, but is described by insiders as Farage’s right-hand man and closest aide. Farage said he did not need to disclose the pre-election support because it predated his decision to run for parliament. He said he did not need to disclose the use of the townhouse as it is provided by a close friend. However, at the time Farage started receiving the support he was Reform’s honorary president and was active as a national political figure. The “overall purpose” of MPs’ code of conduct is to uphold democracy by ensuring maximum transparency over any financial support or benefit that “might reasonably be thought by others” to influence their actions or words as a parliamentarian.
EU Referendum: Boris Johnson stands by Hitler EU comparison
Far side cartoon of dog thinking, “oh please oh please”, hiding behind tumble dryer, having directed cat with “CAT FUD” and arrows to stick its head in the washing machine…
Without him, Reform would not collapse. When I made my Channel 4 film about Reform last year, we ran an opinion poll about post-Farage support. It would still be very strong. Reform is, still, a force for hope for millions who view the established parties with contempt. So his departure would not be an extinction-level event for Reform; it might even be a chance for renewal. A recent survey of party supporters suggests the race would be between Zia Yusuf, its policy chief, and Richard Tice, its deputy leader. Robert Jenrick, who defected from the Tories, is mistrusted by Reform
Brexit and asylum Sir, We should be clear that Brexit is not the reason why the UK no longer has access to European criminal databases ("Brexit lets people-smugglers move to UK" ", Jul 3). It is the spitefulness of the EU which insists that the UK should pay for leaving the bloc. The fight against organised crime should know no borders and only the EU negotiators would disagree. No wonder people say Brexit has failed. Dr David Cottam Castillonnès, Lot-et-Garonne
Fisheries minister Victoria Prentis did not read Brexit deal 'because she was at nativity event' BORIS JOHNSON SAID HE STANDS BY VICTORIA PRENTIS
Brexit lets people-smugglers move to UK Matt Dathan - Home Affairs Editor Extracts: Immigration officers have blamed Brexit for allowing active peoplesmugglers with convictions in other European countries to enter the UK. An investigation by the BBC found that one prominent smuggler who had been jailed for five years in France in 2016 had claimed asylum in the UK and was living in Leicestershire. Lucy Moreton, the professional officer at the ISU union, which represents Border Force staff, said Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union had cut off access to databases for sharing criminal data. She said she was not surprised that convicted peoplesmugglers had been able to enter the UK undetected. Moreton told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Once we left the European Union we lost our ability to share what’s termed low-level data. We still have Interpol data but that is not this level of criminality. “So ultimately, as long as you’ve not been fingerprinted in the UK before, the identity you give us when you arrive and give us your fingerprints — if you even give fingerprints — is going to be the only identity that we know you by.” The most important criminal database that was lost after Brexit was the Schengen Information System (SIS II), which was used to get real-time information about the movements of criminals, missing persons and objects of interest. The UK lost access to 40,000 alerts about investigations in other European countries. The Interpol database shares information only on the most serious criminals. The UK also lost access to the European Criminal Records Information System and the Europol Information System. It no longer has access to Eurodac, the fingerprinting system that shares biometric identities of all people who claim asylum in the EU. Sir Keir Starmer has tried to restore access to these databases, but a deal has yet to be agreed. Britain now relies on bilateral agreements with countries to share criminal data.
Photo of Christopher Harborne Reform UK's biggest donor owns a company contracted to supply fuel to aircraft from refineries that make extensive use of Russian oil, The Times can reveal.
People smuggler convicted in France found by BBC living in UK and seeking asylum
From 'skint' in 2017, the Reform UK leader now owns five mortgage-free homes with his partner Laure Ferrari. Only two have been declared to parliament (Photo of Farage superimposed in front of two houses) Andrew Ellson Wednesday July 1 2026, 3:52pm, The Times Nigel Farage and his partner have managed to build a mortgage-free property portfolio worth more than £4 million over the past decade.
Trump and Farage's greed problem View in browser theipaper.com THE i PAPER Photo of Trump and Farage in that gold lift, laughing together
Farage makes £22,500 an hour from gold dealer Extracts Nigel Farage is being paid £22,500 an hour to promote a company selling gold coins and bars to consumers, taking the Reform UK leader’s earnings outside parliament to about £400,000 so far this year. Farage was paid £270,000 for 12 hours work promoting the gold dealer Direct Bullion, double his fee from last year. This is on top the £18,000 he was paid to host a show on GB News and the £42,000 he has earned for recording personalised messages to fans on Cameo. Since being elected as MP for Clacton, Farage has made almost £1.3 million in paid work, making him parliament’s highest earning MP behind only the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who has made more than £2.4 million from work including advisory roles at Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Anthropic. Sunak donates this income to charity. There has been growing scrutiny of Farage’s personal finances since it emerged that he had received and did not declare a £5 million gift before the 2024 general election from the cryptobillionaire Christopher Harborne, potentially in violation of parliamentary rules. Harborne is Reform UK’s biggest single donor, having given it £15 million since last year. Farage has said that he had no need to declare the money as it was “an unconditional, non-political, personal gift”. He initially said that it had been intended for his personal security costs, and then that it was a reward for Brexit. Investors who have put their faith in Farage and invested in gold with the company at the start of the year will have seen the price of their assets rise from around £3,200 an ounce in January to more than £4,000 per ounce at its peak in March. Since then prices have fallen back to trade now at about £3,000.
Meanwhile, the right wing has spent years denigrating knowledge, education and expertise in favour of feelings, vibes and bogus victimhood. Gove's infamous disdain for "experts" during the Brexit referendum paved the way for a world in which you do not have to explain, account for or even understand your own "opinions" for them to be considered "legitimate" by commentators, politicians and racist grifters. Speaking of which, there was an under-reported moment at the last rally held by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (the real name of the man who otherwise calls himself Tommy Robinson) that showed where all this can lead. Other members of the crowd abused a bespectacled woman for, as one put it, having "a right f**king lefty look on her face." They demanded her removal. Yaxley-Lennon's goons obliged. Two very different politicians nail the real issue here. In 1952, Nye Bevan, key architect of both the NHS and the welfare state, explained right-wing politics thus: "How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power?" Today, one answer to Bevan's question trumps all others: deny "poverty" a decent education by persuading "poverty" that it has no value. Only a deliberately uninformed electorate, after all, could believe that Brexit, former prime minister Boris Johnson or Farage could be the solution to their problems.
DIRECT BULLION - LONDON- How to STOP the Government Taking More of Your Money ... See more •.. • A screenshot of Nigel Farage promoting Direct Bullion on a Facebook post. Photograph: Facebook
Asylum appeals Sir, Muddled government thinking is contlating the law, resources and the judiciary ("Public to decide asylum appeals as Mahmood jettisons judges", Jun 29). Nothing except its own ambivalence prevents a government with a large majority from changing the law on immigration and human rights, and nothing except its own misplaced expenditure priorities prevent it from funding the courts and tribunals system to eliminate the backlogs. The task of the immigration judiciary is to decide whether, on return to their home country, an asylum seeker faces a real risk of persecution. This can mean torture and death, so immigration judges exercise the nearest that the UK now has to a capital jurisdiction. That responsibility, which I exercised for 20 years, requires accumulated legal training, skill, experience and judgment. Replacing a body of people exercising those proven attributes with one that lacks all of them and will not be operational until the end of next year is nonsensical. It will imperil appellants and will undoubtedly increase the number of applications to the High Court for judicial review. We have only to imagine a proposed crash course for applicants from different backgrounds with no medical knowledge for surgical hospital positions. Dr Jonathan Lewis Designated immigration judge (ret'd), Pinner
Reform donor who gifted £5m to Farage registers to vote in UK Extracts: A British-Thai cryptocurrency billionaire who is Reform UK’s biggest donor has registered to vote in Britain in a move that the party hopes will pave the way for him to give more money. Christopher Harborne, 63, gave Nigel Farage, the party’s leader, a gift of £5 million shortly before he became an MP in 2024. Farage is facing an investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether the gift broke the rules, which states new MPs must declare any registrable benefits received in the year before they were elected. Harborne faces being barred from giving significant donations to the party after the government announced that it was limiting donations from overseas Britons to £100,000 a year. He has previously said that the government has no right to stop him from making donations and insisted that “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. He said that his first thought on hearing about the cap on donations was: “Fine, in that case I’ll give even more money.” Harborne had his name restored to the electoral roll this month, registering his address at a farmhouse in Hampshire. The money from Harborne and other cryptocurrency billionaires has the potential to transform UK politics. Harborne was seen last week at a party held by Ben Delo, another cryptocurrency billionaire who had given £4 million to Reform. Delo recently moved back to Britain from Hong Kong in part so he could continue to donate. Delo’s party at the National Gallery was attended by right-wing political leaders, including Farage and Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain. Lowe used to be a Reform MP before his bitter row with Farage. A Reform source said: “We are delighted to have Christopher’s support and even happier he’s come home. Reform is already attracting more tax-paying billionaires back to the UK than Labour could dream of.”
Farage may have created Brexit, but in many ways, Brexit created him too. The referendum was supposed to settle the defining question of his career. Instead, it provided the foundation for a new one. Farage successfully repositioned himself as Brexit's betrayed champion. "Nigel Farage and Reform UK aren't creating something new but harvesting something old," Smith explains. "Just as the Leave campaign of 2016 did, they're making false promises and whipping up xenophobia, blaming the country's problems on others rather than being honest about the economic damage of Brexit, the dangerous man in the White House and their billionaire mates cream-skimming wealth from the public."