Up next in 10
A spokesperson for Nigel Farage has denied new allegations that the Reform UK leader violated parliamentary rules after accepting support from a convicted criminal and failing to properly declare it. The new reports claim that Nigel Farage received undeclared support - including security and social media staff - from crypto-gambler and convicted criminal George Cottrell, in the run-up to his appointment as an MP. The story was broken this morning by Gabriel Pogrund, editor of Insight, the Sunday Times investigation team. Pogrund joins Lewis Goodall to discuss the details of the story. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #LewisGoodall #UKPolitics #Politics #UKNews #News #UK #NigelFarage #Farage #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Nigel Farage's spokesperson has denied fresh allegations that their former UK leader may have broken parliamentary rules
0:06
After reports, the MP failed to declare benefits provided by an ally who has been convicted of fraud in the United States
0:13
This is a story from the Sunday Times saying that George Cottrell, otherwise known as Posh George
0:19
supplied support, including security and social media staff who worked on Farage's online content in the year before he was elected
0:26
It also claims that Farage used a property rented by Cottrell near Buckingham Palace
0:31
Well, a little earlier I spoke to Gabriel Poggren, the man who broke the story
0:34
to find out who George Cottrell, posh George, really is. Well, that is the central question we've been trying to unravel alongside his relationship with Farage
0:44
Who is this man? I mean, literally, who is he? What even is his name? It's not a straightforward question because he's legally changed it on so many occasions
0:51
But let's take it from the top. He's an aristocrat. He grew up in a cottage in rural Worcestershire and in a Caribbean island called Mystique
0:59
His mother, the daughter of the third Lord Manton, dated Prince Charles in the 70s
1:04
but the marriage was, the match rather, was killed off, but she posed for Penthouse magazine in the nude
1:10
So it's a colourful story, colourful childhood. He gets expelled from Malvern College, the boarding school, for gambling
1:18
He reported going to the local bookies and returning with a, or going rather, with a 50k bag of cash in hand
1:26
So he's got this colourful start in life. So a pretty normal childhood, by all accounts
1:31
Yeah, wholly similar to yours, I'm sure. Mine as well. Mine was much racing
1:37
So he gets expelled and he doesn't go to university or follow the path that one might expect
1:44
of a very well-bred individual such as him. he heads first into the world of finance and the bit of finance where you know russian
1:54
british arab money co-mingling mayfay he basically advises people on how to move money around the
2:02
world and that sets him on a path to criminality i'm just going to take a brief pivot and say that
2:08
he becomes a volunteer to reform where he uh ukip rather the forerunner thereof where he becomes
2:15
credited as like the best Farage whisperer there is. He understands Nigel. He knows when Nigel wants
2:21
a cigarette, when he needs a pint, when he wants a moment to pause. He's there to pull the chair out
2:26
from the table when he sits down. He's something between a servant, a friend, a son, an aide
2:31
It's not clear, but he becomes a key part of Farage's coterie. And he's with Farage
2:35
on the night of the referendum in 2016. And when Farage goes to the Republican National Convention
2:41
in 2016 to see Trump. And on their way back from that event
2:45
Farage and Cottrell are travelling together. Cottrell arrives at Chicago O'Hare Airport
2:50
and is arrested by federal agents because two years prior, he had purported, not purported
2:58
he masqueraded under an alias on the dark web and had offered drug dealers
3:03
the opportunity to launder their proceeds into crypto The problem was when he went and met these people and told them about all of his schemes he wasn speaking to drug dealers He was speaking to undercover federal agents and he was banged up in a federal prison in Arizona for a time He leaves that world after
3:23
wait, he leaves prison after about seven months. He did a plea deal where he pleaded guilty to a
3:27
charge of wire fraud and agreed to give the authorities information. And then there's a
3:33
whole interregionum but the thing that i'll just try and land in the here and now is that he gets
3:38
back into crypto and back into gambling and moves to montenegro all while preserving this incredible
3:46
proximity to farage so despite the fact that he had been convicted and sent to an arizona jail
3:52
despite the fact that the feds had managed to expose him for doing the things that you just
3:58
described, Nigel Farage keeps him close. Yeah, well Farage has never, he tried to downplay the charges when he was asked about them at
4:05
the time and said he wasn't responsible for the actions of everybody who happened to know him
4:09
But I think the thing one has to understand is that lots of journalists squandered on
4:14
phrases like the most important aide to or the number one person
4:19
He really is Farage's guy. It's like there's no division between the pair in terms of just everybody knows Cottrell
4:27
is an extension of Farage. Farage needs him. He trusts him. It's emotional
4:31
It's political. And it's financial. And Farage, throughout this period, from UKIP to the Brexit party
4:37
through the, if not quite wilderness years, certainly the interregnum and the transition
4:42
from being a political commentator back to frontline politics, George has just been there all along
4:48
And, of course, maintaining a relationship with a rather unsavoury character is not against any parliamentary rules
4:53
although it might not be advisable. But the point of your story is to say that Farage may have broken the rules of the House of Commons
5:00
by failing to declare that Cottrell provided funding for his operation in the year before the election
5:06
That's right. That's right. And what type of funding are we talking about
5:10
Well, it's very wide-ranging. Everything from security to drivers to staff to support with his social media output
5:19
to transport to accommodation, all of the above. And this was all provided as a donation, a gift to Nigel Farage in the 12 months before the general election, and none of it was declared
5:32
None of it was declared, with one exception. Farage just divulged that Cottrell had paid for him to attend a conservative conference in Brussels shortly before the election
5:45
He reported that there was another occasion where I noticed that Farage had traveled to America to attend a Trump fundraiser in Florida
5:53
It was only after I started pestering about that, that they reluctantly and belatedly reported that that was Cottrell, too
6:01
But that's in the past that, no, the reality is, is none of nothing else was declared
6:06
Nothing. So Cottrell's literally paying people of his lawyers have told me from a bank account in his name to staff to Nigel Farage
6:15
who are responsible for broadening his reach, managing his personal brand, bringing his message on migration culture wars climate change the economy reform Tories Labour He is literally paying those people to do that job The rules say any benefit received in 12 months prior to one election must be declared
6:33
Farage didn't declare it. And the point is, is that Farage is, my understanding is that Farage Shiu is using the same defence
6:41
that he has done with another person heavily associated with crypto, that is Christopher Harbourn
6:46
the man who provided him with the £5 million gift, is also in a way which is compliant with the rules
6:51
given £12 million to reform. He's saying that much like his gift from Harbourn
6:56
this was all before he was an MP. It was before he'd even decided that he was going to stand again for Parliament
7:03
And therefore, given it was a personal gift, he didn't need to declare it
7:06
But my understanding of the rules is that that isn't quite what they say. I will say I do generally share your interpretation
7:13
I think the rules specify that their overall purpose is to uphold democracy by maintaining transparency on any interest which a reasonable person might think might affect the words or actions of a member of parliament
7:28
And that includes specifically that one must register any gift or benefit exceeding £300 in value, which, to use this language, is in any way related to a person's political activities
7:43
What that means is it's not, quote, purely personal. That is to say it's not a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day from your wife
7:51
It's not a holiday ticket from your grandparents to go visit them at Christmas
7:57
If the gift could be seen by a reasonable person to relate in any way to who you are as a public figure, not a private person, then they say declare
8:07
And if there's any doubt, they say declare. They say declaring is not an admission of wrongdoing
8:11
It's the opposite. Declare, declare, declare, and then we can take things from there
8:15
is essentially the thrust of the rules. Farage has not declared the vast majority of these benefits
8:20
And the point is that these donations or these gifts are not coming from people who you might say
8:29
there is no obvious connection to what they do or the industry with which they're associated and Farage
8:37
I mean, the truth is, and it may well be that this is, of course, a complete coincidence
8:41
But whether it's Christopher Harbourn or Mr. Cottrell, both are deeply associated with the crypto industry
8:46
And up to now, at least, Mr. Farage has affected and adopted the most pro-crypto platform of any of the major parties
8:55
Yeah, I mean, look, the rules use this language about a reasonable person. The reason they do that is what a reasonable person might consider in good faith about a politician's actions or words
9:07
So every politician will say, of course I didn't do this because of my friendship with X
9:12
But that's the point. It's not their interpretation. It's what an average man on the cap of mumbley bus might think is going on over here
9:19
And if there's any suspicion, declare it. And that is what you've said there is this is exactly what it's all about
9:25
Is there any overlap on the Venn diagram in terms of their interest? So it not just crypto although you quite right that the reform has said it wants to make Britain the crypto capital of the world and Farage has lobbied the Bank of England to that effect It also that Cottrell wants a pardon from the US President Donald Trump whose Vice President J Vance Farage was with only yesterday
9:45
Cottrell's told us he is presently applying for a US presidential pardon. He's also got his own
9:51
political consultancy, which purports to specialise in campaigns and polling. So there are all sorts
9:58
of areas where one might say there is a substantial amount of overlap in their worlds. The crypto
10:04
one, though, it has to be said, it's a biggie. And I don't know if this is an irony that is
10:08
getting too geeky for you, Lewis, or your listeners. Impossible. Yeah, exactly. Well
10:15
given that I'm here, I'll also say that the crypto platform that Cottrell is involved with
10:21
and which we have also revealed today is implicated in potentially criminal gambling
10:26
activity it's called tether.bet it specializes in sports betting and politics betting
10:33
using the cryptocurrency tether which according to us court documents is part owned by none other
10:40
than christopher harborn the crypto billionaire who by the way had had lunch with farage and
10:47
shortly before this tether.bet venture was launched so i'm not sure if i've sort of
10:54
left you feeling less sure-footed than when that sentence began. But there are some very tightly wired social connections
11:00
at the heart of the story. What do you say to the spokesperson from Nigel Farage
11:04
who, among other things, I mean, they say the story is baseless and contrived and connected with your newspaper's endorsement of Labour
11:10
at the last election, and then say, we also understand the Sunday Times is a new podcast to promote
11:14
which it seems very excited about. Its agenda should be playing for all to see
11:18
Now, I'm all for podcast promotion, but what's your response to that? Well, I guess hard to answer with a fully straight face, but let me give it my best shot
11:27
Number one, I, not to pick myself up too vigorously, but if we are talking about undeclared interests
11:34
I did a lot. I break the story alongside my beloved colleague Patrick McGuire about Starmer receiving suits and spectacles from a Labour peer with a number 10 pass
11:48
So I don't seem to recall Nigel Farage and Richard Tice accusing me then of having a pro-Labour agenda
11:55
nor, by the way, was the Labour Party accusing me of having a pro-Labour agenda. But yeah, the podcast, I hope you listen to it, it's called Post George
12:01
You can get it on all good podcast platforms. And just finally, is it true, according to your reporting with the Insight team this morning
12:09
that Mr Cottrell calls Mr Farage daddy? You know, this is the most important question I'll address today
12:17
and I can tell you that he has said that himself before. He has publicly acknowledged that he calls Farage daddy
12:23
Gabriel Poggeron, editor of the Insight team at the Sunday Times, grateful for your time this morning. Thank you
12:27
Thank you so much, thanks. Now, Mr. Farage's team, for what it's worth, have repeated to us
12:31
their assertion that Mr. Poggeron's story is baseless and contrived. We did ask reform to provide a spokesperson
12:39
if not for Mr. Farage himself. Yesterday we asked and we asked again this morning
12:43
No one was made available. Perhaps not for the first, nor indeed for the last time
#news