decrypt.co
In brief
- The UK's Labour Party has written to Nigel Farage demanding he stop "evading reasonable scrutiny" over the £5 million personal gift he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
- Labour Chair Anna Turley accused the Reform UK leader of "running from scrutiny," saying his shifting accounts raised questions over whether he broke parliamentary rules and told the truth.
- The letter follows Prime Minister Starmer's PMQs challenge on Wednesday, where he asked why Farage kept the gift "secret in the first place."
The UK's Labour Party has sent a formal letter to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, accusing him of "evading reasonable scrutiny" over the $6.7 million (£5 million) undisclosed payment he received from billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborne weeks before reversing his decision not to stand in the 2024 general election.
"It's time he ended his deafening silence and came clean with the public as to what's gone on here," Labour Party chair Turley said, as cited by The Guardian. "He can't keep dodging questions and changing his story."
Harborne, who holds a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether and is ranked the UK's sixth-richest person with a net worth of $24.4 billion, gifted Farage the £5 million in 2024.
Farage went on to win the Clacton seat in Essex in July that year and has since led Reform UK to become the best-funded party in Britain, bolstered by £7 million in donations from Harborne and BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo in the first quarter of 2026.
The parliamentary standards commissioner launched a formal inquiry into the million-dollar gift last month after the Conservatives referred the matter, asking whether any portion of the money funded political activity.
The pressure amplified at Westminster on Wednesday when Prime Minister Keir Starmer challenged Farage during PMQs, saying the "£5 million question still remains" and asking, "Why is the leader of Reform dodging questions about his donation and why did he keep it secret in the first place?"
Starmer was responding to a question from Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, who pressed him on whether the government would introduce a cap on political donations.
Farage has offered two different explanations for the payment.
He first told The Telegraph it was to fund his personal security for life, citing past threats including a firebombing of his home.
He later described it as a "reward" from Harborne for his Brexit campaigning, and has consistently maintained he was under "no obligation" to declare the gift.
In her letter, Turley wrote that "the British people, and the relevant authorities and regulators deserve one clear and truthful account of what happened," adding that his refusal to address media questions "is not acceptable."
Harborne and Reform UK
Harborne has donated $16 million (£12 million) to Reform UK in total, including a $12 million (£9 million) contribution last year, which stands as the largest single political donation from a living individual in British history. His contributions account for roughly two-thirds of Reform's 2025 funding.
Harborne was joined in the first quarter of 2026 by Ben Delo, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, who sent $5.3 million (£4 million) to Reform across two payments in January and March.
While Starmer stopped short of committing to a cap on large donations, he said the government "will do whatever is necessary to protect our democracy from foreign influence and dirty money," pointing to its moratorium on crypto donations and the new cap on contributions from overseas donors, a measure Harborne has said he believes was introduced because of him—adding that he has not ruled out returning to Britain to circumvent it.
Decrypt has contacted Farage's office and Christopher Harborne for comment.