"The Exemption Rule: Parliamentary ethics rules generally require MPs to register financial interests and "personal benefits" received in the 12 months before taking office. However, Farage and Reform UK have leaned on the exemption for strictly personal gifts "which could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the House" or his political activities"
Personal security would come under that.
I mean you may not agree, but it's an arguable case.
Are we really still going with the "personal security" story? I thought he had pivoted a couple of times to other, not necessarily more credible, stories.
Have you got evidence for otherwise? He does appear to have 3-4 security people, driver etc.
I guess technically he never said it wasn't for security. Apparently the 5m was an unconditional gift for campaigning for brexit, and how he had spent the money was “not the public’s business”.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c072prlxlddo
https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-the-latest...
He can make that case to the investigating committee. If Farage finds that inconvenient then, well, the easiest way for him to avoid such scrutiny in future is to declare any large amounts of money he receives. Not that difficult, and surely in the public interest to do so.
Nope. If he had declared that then there would be no issue what so ever.
There is no restriction on gifted money, no requirement on what to use it for - simply a common code of conduct that requires gifts to be declared.
Farage could of declared it, but didn't - now he has been outed with his hand in cookie jar in a dark closet he's retconning a reason he simply could have fronted with and taken his cookies with the light on and everybody watching.
Nigel Farage’s donations: four key claims fact checked by an expert in political finance - https://theconversation.com/nigel-farages-donations-four-key...