Sarah Murphy

@13sarahmurphy

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).

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Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 23d

George Cottrell helped Farage with a camera crew so he could go into the English Channel and film the boats to “warn the nation”/aka whip it up into a frenzy of racist anger… But when it comes to rich aristocrat fraudsters funding him, Farage believes in “Christian forgiveness” Oh please. (Times)

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 24d

Much like Brexit. As if that was just a good idea, done badly. No. It was always just a terrible idea that was only ever going to be about what level of damage-limitation you chose. So here, this strategy of trying to appease Reform voters at the expense of progressive ones is utterly doomed.

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 25d

The Farage show is tediously self-pitying. Even if his idiotic by-election stunt distracts temporarily from scrutiny of his dodgy finances, his inability to accept and make amends for the significant role he himself plays in the toxification of our politics will not. (Letters in The Times)

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 26d

Reform needs to take a long hard look at itself if it wants to howl about its own security and sense of threat. (Letter, Times)

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 27d

I wonder how many death threats the quiet Sadiq Khan has received, as he requires round the clock security because of the targeting he gets from extremists. And who, on our political stage, has done the most to whip up that level of hatred and racism, if it isn’t v loud Farage? (BBC report extract)

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"

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 27d

Good analysis of Farage’s disrespectful, self-serving “people v the establishment” garbage where “people” are only the small minority who agree with him. The rest of us don’t count. “Populism usually ends in the erosion of democracy, and Farage's nonsensical by-election couldn't sum that up better”

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

Extracts:

Count Binface is not the joke candidate in the Clacton by-election. To accord him that status requires taking Nigel Farage’s mirthless gag seriously. Even his own party doesn’t do that. On Monday Farage’s deputy Richard Tice was talking about a distant time when his leader was no longer in parliament. He apparently hadn’t noticed he already wasn’t in parliament, having resigned from it. By his casual words Tice revealed he knew what everyone else knows. That the whole thing is a meaningless stunt.

To be fair, Farage did accompany his otherwise grimly unamusing comedy act with a genuinely funny statement. “The really big question that I want to pose is: do we want leaders that know how to make money?” he asked the audience tuned in to watch his Flounce of the Year show. It clearly hadn’t occurred to him that one can answer “yes” to this question without also answering “yes” to, “Do we want leaders who know how to accept a £5 million gift from a Thai cryptocurrency billionaire without declaring it?” That one would be a “no” from me.

We might want more successful entrepreneurs in parliament while still replying “perhaps not” to, “Do we want leaders with convicted fraudsters in their inner circle?”

I only stopped laughing when he reached the punchline. Because his resignation I found completely unamusing. Part of this is for a slightly pompous reason.

I regard becoming an MP as a very serious undertaking and the gaining of that office a true honour. So it pains me to see someone treat it frivolously.

An objection which I hope is more widely shared is my problem with the question he ludicrously wishes the people of Clacton to adjudicate: the people or the establishment?

The aim is not merely to reject the authority of anyone trying to hold Farage and Reform to account. It is to deny their (our) humanity. Being a “real person” is not a natural endowment, apparently, but something achieved and sustained only by agreeing with Nigel Farage.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 28d

Farage rejected offer of tax-payer security because he “wanted security at the same level as the Home Secretary who has the highest level of protection among govt ministers” Yet, on and on he whines. Demanding the highest public office with none of the scrutiny. liveapp.inews.co.uk/category/464...

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"

The i Paper has learned he was offered a taxpayer-funded bodyguard, car and trained driver supplied by private contractors.
The offer followed a July 2025 review by Parliament's former security director Alison Giles, and specified that it could be upgraded for more high risk events.
The royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), responsible for the security of the royals, the prime minister and the home secretary, was brought in to help assess the threat faced by MPs in February 2024.
One parliamentary source claimed Farage was unhappy with the offer as he wanted security at the same level as the Home Secretary, who has one of the highest levels of protection among government ministers. This was denied as "false" by a Reform spokesman who said the leader did not make specific requests.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 29d

So very Farage to exploit Anne Widdecombe’s murder to: - claim Reform MPs face particular threat - that they need the security that supposedly crypto billionaire paid £5million for and so… - Labour’s Bill to cap donations to political parties risks their safety. What utterly disgraceful horseshit.

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· 29d

The Times has done a great deal to shove Farage in our faces, peddle his Brexit, ignore his lies, downplay his racism and misogyny… But it doesn’t seem willing to have him behaving like a total spoilt brat crybaby when asked to come clean about his money. Better late than never. He can never be PM.

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 11

The current stack of charges against Farage and Reform. Just in case you’d lost count. Spoilt-brat richboy, Tice, calls it all “a politically motivated smear” rather than the frenziedly greedy and corrupt piss-taking that it is. “Reform and Farage have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing” (iPaper)

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.

4) Donations from fraudster ‘posh George’

Farage faces questions about undeclared support provided by his long-standing ally George Cottrell. He faces claims he failed to declare benefits, including staffing, security and housing,
According to The Sunday Times, Cottrell recruited and paid three staff to work on Farage’s social media before the general election.

5) Lobbying referral

A separate referral was made by Labour MP Phil Brickell over accusations that Farage “lobbied” Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey to drop plans for a state-run alternative to cryptocurrency, which could be costly to Harborne’s business interests.
But doubts remain as to whether a probe will be launched over the claims. Bailey has insisted that Farage’s lobbying on cryptocurrencies has had no effect on the Bank of England’s policies.

6) Jenrick donations investigated by police

Police have also opened an investigation into a political donation of nearly £40,000 to Robert Jenrick’s campaign to become Conservative Party leader in 2024 amid claims it ultimately came from a foreign source, The i Paper revealed this week.
It is illegal to accept political donations from foreign sources under UK electoral law. Scotland Yard did not state which individuals are under investigation.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 10

Aren’t the people annoying, Nigel? You generously insist that you - with your snout stuck in the establishment trough - should only be judged by them, not the pesky police, or the standards commission or anyone in actual authority. What thanks do you get? None. The people say you’re sleazy too, ffs!

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 10

V enjoyable piss-take of the Farage v Count Binface “people v the establishment” by-election and dismal Jenrick’s LBC phone-in about it, where he got handed his arse by ‘the people’. Or was this an establishment stitch-up too? We all see you, Robert. And you Nigel. And you’re ridiculous. (Times)

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 9

The Spectator and any rightwing gobshite attempting this line of attack needs to be mocked into oblivion. No one is laughing at the people of Clacton. Everyone is laughing at Farage for his idiotic crybaby strop that now has him competing with a bin. He’s getting all the respect he deserves.

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 9

Private Eye being v funny about #£5Mill, #5Houses Farage. But, right now, not quite as funny as he’s being about himself. The mockery he faces for his own, self-inflicted crybaby by-election stunt may even be worse for him than the investigations he was trying to discredit. Bloody wonderful.

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!

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 7

Years of piss-taking as a career politician… Brexit and all the cheating, lies and racism that got him his ‘win’… His pro-Putin and Trump agenda… Rampant crypto corruption, dodgy house purchases and links to criminality… It’s beyond time £5Mill Farage was held to account. And it needs to end him.

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))

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 6

The part about covering your arse when you’re found out is useful as a reference for Farage’s response too… lawyer up, deny everything, flood the zone with accusations and counterattacks… Very Farage-y. God I hope it’s game over for that nasty, racist crook.

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 6

A very enjoyable read after work. Thought this part was worth sharing to, as it would be a shame for others to miss out on experiencing the very real hope this particular sentence offers…. “Farage is now in an exquisitely dangerous situation.”

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 6

Farage wants to “smash the cosy consensus” that someone pitching to be PM should not in fact fail to declare “benefits…, including staff, security and use of a property from [a] crypto-gambler who once pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was imprisoned in the United States.” (Times)

Farage faces extensive scrutiny over the way Reform UK, and his personal life, were financed. However, he said that he was the victim of an "establish-ment hit job",
", adding: "I have done no
wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times. It's now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform - we want to smash their cosy consensus."
Last week The Times revealed he had amassed a f4 million property portfolio with his partner and that Christopher Harborne, Reform's biggest donor, owned a company that was contracted to supply aircraft fuel from a refinery that made extensive use of Russian crude oil.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 6

Farage having a total “establishment stitch-up” wettie about being scrutinised for his corrupt links and handouts from a convicted fraudster while Jenrick insists Farage “will be Britain’s next prime minister.” No. You don’t get to tantrum your way to power. app.independent.co.uk/2026/07/05/3...

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

"It's now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform - we want to smash their cosy consensus."

(Photo of Nigel Farage with George Cottrell (Alamy Stock Photo)

In an extraordinary interview on Sky News, Mr Jenrick launched a furious attack on presenter Sir Trevor Phillips, claiming the media was "muck-raking" about Mr Farage to keep Labour in power. He dismissed claims Mr Farage has "become a liability" and is about to quit as Reform leader as "daft" and insisted: "He will be Britain's next prime minister."

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 5

George Cottrell calls Farage “Daddy”. Ugh god that’s so creepily weird.

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".

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 5

Some more detail of the crypto-criminality that has boosted Farage far beyond the limits of his own potential. And should now bring him down.

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

Cottrell himself has continued to prosper from the Farage association.

(Photo of Cottrell and Farage at the Spectator summer party last year
STUART MITCHELL)

As a man whose wealth derives from crypto, he could not have a more vocal champion in Farage, who has vigorously lobbied for the sector.
This included a recent face to face meeting with the governor of the Bank of England, whom he urged to stay out of the industry.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 5

Farage is done. He simply cannot become PM. He’s a ragingly greedy, corrupt, national security risk. We aren’t America. Anyone shouting “witchhunt” on this just looks like an idiot. Off you go, you most loathsome man.

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 4

How dare the EU act in its own best interests, rather than ours, hey. So “vengeful”. Whereas we were lovely.

EU Referendum:
Boris Johnson stands by Hitler EU comparison

Jeremy Hunt rebuked by EU after Soviet prison comparison
Former UK Foreign Office leaders also condemn speech attacking European Union over Brexit talks

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 4

Oh yes…

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…

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 4

Fraser Nelson has an opinion piece in The Times asking whether Farage’s greed will be his downfall. He insists that Reform’s support would stay strong… and that Yusuf or Tice could take over. Hahahaha. Sure, Fraser. The messy collapse would be a pleasure to witness.

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 4

This kind of whining - from France - is so very Brexit. Until we take responsibility for the inevitable consequences of our own stupid choices, we will stay stuck in a sulky dead-end calling other people names. Boris Johnson rejected these data sharing arrangements. You get what you pay for. (Times)

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

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 3

Lest we forget… How do you “take back control” if you don’t understand the policy you are implementing or what its consequences could be…?

Fisheries minister
Victoria Prentis did not read Brexit deal
'because she was at nativity event'

BORIS JOHNSON SAID HE STANDS BY VICTORIA PRENTIS

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 3

Times report on BBC investigation into people-smuggling… Lots of talk of “losing” access to critical information. Rather than Johnson not bothering to secure it. And Farage wanting an even harder Brexit. The stubborn refusal to face the consequences of our own govt’s stupid choices has become absurd

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.

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 2

Oh and now this… Reform’s biggest donor is profiting from Russian oil money. Jeezus. Traitorous, corrupt and funded by filthy foreign money. Our democracy is being bought by these dismal people. £5Mill Farage is brokering the sale.

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.

Susan Hawley, the executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, said: "These revelations raise real questions about whether a major political party in the UK is being bankrolled by money made from selling fuel sourced from states that are hostile to our democracy."

Sarah Murphy@13sarahmurphy· Jul 2

#r4today reporting BBC’s investigation into people smuggler ‘King’. Justin Webb totally crestfallen when told by immigration specialist that Brexit binned the data sharing agreement we had with the EU. So, we can’t now properly check. We don’t have access to Eurodac - the fingerprint database. Ffs.