Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said Nigel Farage broke no rules by accepting benefits from a long-standing ally who was previously jailed for fraud in the United States, after a newspaper report raised questions about undeclared support.
The Sunday Times reported that George Cottrell supplied Farage with support including security personnel and social media staff who worked on his online content in the year before he was elected to Parliament. The paper also claimed Farage stayed at a property near Buckingham Palace that Cottrell was renting.
Cottrell, 32, pleaded guilty in the United States in 2017 to a charge of wire fraud and was jailed for eight months. He has been a long-standing associate of Farage and was involved with UKIP as a volunteer in the run-up to the Brexit referendum. According to the Sunday Times, he is currently a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and is involved with an offshore gambling website called Tether.bet.
Jenrick appeared on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and defended Farage's position, describing Cottrell as an old friend. He said Farage received help from Cottrell with staffing costs, including security, before becoming a Member of Parliament. Jenrick argued that this did not require registration because the support was provided in a personal capacity before Farage held elected office.
"He did give support to Nigel before he was a Member of Parliament, he hasn't done so since he became a Member of Parliament," Jenrick said. "No rules have been broken whatsoever."
Asked specifically whether Farage stayed at a townhouse rented by Cottrell, Jenrick confirmed he had. "I believe Nigel has said that he stayed a couple of times there, very infrequently, as you're allowed to," he said. "Nigel Farage is allowed to have friends, as a politician you're allowed to stay at a friend's house, and certainly remember Nigel was not an elected politician. He was, if you like, an ex-politician at the time."
Jenrick also called the story a recycled attack. "It's a very old story that has been dredged up," he said, adding that the purpose was to drag Farage down and that it would not succeed.
The Liberal Democrats have referred the matter to the parliamentary standards commissioner for investigation. This is not the first scrutiny Farage has faced over undeclared support. He is already under a separate parliamentary investigation over a five million pound gift from a billionaire Reform UK donor that was not registered. Farage has argued in both cases that the money or support was personal and not political in nature, received at a time when he was not involved in politics.
