This article quotes Matthew Elliot & Toby Young on how Arron Banks is a threat to free speech. There aren’t enough lolz in my body to respond to that. These men. All these men. Completely silent for the years when Banks waged a brutal & highly public war on my reporting

Arron Banks is smack bang in middle of latest Farage scandal, threatening & surveillance journalists & the absence of reporting on his previous form in this area is…well, what? Answers on a postcard, please. It’s not me who’s being gaslit here. It’s anyone with eyes.

George Cottrell through his lawyer at Carter Ruck - the same lawyer who also acts for Nigel Farage - flatly denies the claim & any relationship with Abramovich’s son. Three separate sources say otherwise & @bylinetimes.bsky.social has another.

All lawyers have to undertake a ‘conflict check’ before taking on a new client. For Nigel Farage & George Cottrell to be sharing the same lawyers, it means the convicted money launderer & Reform leader’s interests are aligned. In what way? And who’s paying? 2/

NEW: Why would Nigel Farage & George Cottrell share the same lawyer? In @thenerve_news we revealed that the Reform donor under investigation by the NCA & the Reform leader under investigation by Parliamentary Standards share the same Carter Ruck lawyers. Why? 1/l

This is part 5 of @thenerve_news's series, #HarborneReceipts. We've tracked Harborne's £££ &... * Farage & Johnson's crypto policies. * The Brexit "deal" that saw Farage stand down his candidates ahead of critical general election. * Johnson's undeclared trip to Kyiv. 10/

It doesn't end there. Harborne got another Chequers invite. It was Aug 22 after Johnson had resigned but before he'd stepped down. Johnson had to step away to take a call with the 'Quad' - Biden, Macron & Scholz - to discuss Ukraine. Only one guest remained: Harborne. 9/

By the time of Farnborough Airshow, Harborne had become the single biggest individual investor in QinetiQ and controller of the voting rights. He'd also moved the entire holding to Delaware, a US jurisdiction that HMRC classifies as "opaque", ie beyond its reach or scrutiny 8/

There's exact parallels to Mandelson scandal, Susan Hawley of @spotlightcorruption.org told @thenerve.news. She also says: "If there is compelling evidence that insider information has been shared in this case, it is essential that there is a robust criminal investigation.” 7/

QinetiQ's share price jumped. In the hours, Harborne spent alone with Boris Johnson, did he mention the new defence programme to him? We don't know. It's why Susan Hawley of @spotlightcorruption.org says UK lobbying laws must change. 6/

On July 18, 2022, Boris Johnson took to the stage of the Farnborough Airshow and announced Tempest, a next gen fighter jet. A huge deal - & £££ - for the UK defence industry...including QinetiQ although the full scale of their involvement would only come to light later. 5/

That was only the beginning of the spree. Over next 2 months, Harborne bought a further 7% in QinetiQ becoming largest single shareholder. Defence stocks "corrected" & prices dipped but then Harborne caught a break. Thanks to..Boris Johnson. 4/

In early 2022, Harborne switched his donations to the Tories giving first £500k then on May 6, another £500k. It wasn't his only transaction that day. UK defence firm, QinetiQ 3% issued a notice that he now owned 3%. The next day, he spent hours with Johnson at Chequers. 3/

NEW: Before cryptobillionaire Christopher Harborne gave £5m to @nigel_farage, he gave £1m to Boris Johnson. For what?? Today @thenerve.news news reveals new evidence that tracks Harborne's investments in defence firm QinetiQ...to key defence announcements from Boris Johnson. 1/

Here’s a funny thing. I’ve just found a tweet from Jan 2020 asking what quid pro quo was for these peerages? In Part 2 of our series #HarborneReceipts Rupert Lowe alleges Tories offered them to Farage as part of a deal. Farage said he turned the deal down. But did he?

Johnson didn’t reply to @thenerve_news’s press inquiries. Harborne, through his lawyers, Schillings, threatened defamation proceedings but wouldn’t comment or explain what was defamatory. Harborne is suing @wsj for reporting on his ownership of Tether. 7/

Harborne’s fortune derives largely from his investment in Tether, a cryptocurrency. But what has gone under the radar until now is his investment in QinetiQ, which began in early 2022 when he became friendly with Johnson & switched his donations to the Conservatives 6/

Johnson flew to Poland en route to meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv. And Harborne didn’t just supply the jet. The leaked schedule notes he went too. And he had his own interest in Ukraine. He was & still is the largest individual shareholder in UK defence company, QinetiQ 5/

Harborne’s gift of £5m to Farage wasn’t his first act of generosity. He also gave £1m to Johnson *after* he left office. What for, you ask? Neither are saying. But in contrast to the flights, he did declare this. 2 months later he flew on Harborne’s jet to Ukraine 4/

Harborne provided his private jet & pilot to Johnson in Jan 2023, after he’d resigned as PM but when still an MP. There is no record of the gift in Johnson’s Register of Members Interests. 3/

NEW: Boris Johnson failed to declare to parliament a gift of private jet flights from the same cryptobillionaire, Christopher Harborne who gave £5m to Nigel Farage, leaked documents reveal. New #HarborneReceipts investigation from @thenerve.news. 🔗 below 1/

It’s a revelatory report which nails how Russia’s hybrid warfare programme actually works & how Russia is explicitly & directly inciting racialised violence in UK - & has worked with Tommy Robinson to do so who even yesterday was shilling same Kremlin lines!

The stakes couldn’t be any higher. This is an attack on UK prime minister. And I was already gripped by the incredible detail - which apparently Met police had missed - when Sergey Nalobin suddenly enters the chat..as a tutor to the guy who directed entire UK sabotage operation.

B) The Kremlin operative who BBC names as directing arson attacks against Keir Starmer was taught his tradecraft by…drumroll…Sergei Nalobin !!! Pictured here with Boris Johnson. Also: the star of our podcast series, Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring! Wtaf 2/

This is Ukraine’s foreign minister: ‘We expect strong reactions by international institutions and capitals. No vague words, silence, or weak steps. We need action now to stop Russian barbarism’

I’ve also grabbed this from Twitter, absolutely haunting sound of the bells ringing out this morning.

This morning scrolling Bluesky, there is nothing at all in my feed about Putin’s barbaric attack on the Ukraine’s holiest site, the UNESCO protected Lavra so I’m posting this here.

NEW: Why did Nigel Farage throw the 2019 ‘Brexit’ election for Boris Johnson? What does it have to do with Harborne’s £5m gift? And why is it tearing apart Britain’s far-right parties? A @thenerve.news investigation by me & @luciaoc.bsky.social (Link below) 1/ #TheHarborneReceipts

And it’s not just Farage. It was Johnson too. That’s the bit they’re missing. Same donations. Same pattern. 4/

Harborne’s fortune derives in large part from his investment in Tether, a so-called ‘stablecoin’. And it’s stablecoins-friendly policies that Farage is pushing. He names & actively promotes Tether. One donation of £3m was made the same day Farage wrote an op ed pledging stablecoin reform 3/