Farage Accused of Under-Declaring Private Jet Loan Worth Up to £522,000 from Crypto Billionaire
Reform UK Leader Faces Fresh Scrutiny Over Harborne Donations
Nigel Farage has been accused of declaring a private jet loan from his billionaire crypto backer at a fraction of its true market value — potentially understating the gift by hundreds of thousands of pounds — in the latest controversy to engulf the Reform UK leader over his financial ties to Thailand-based businessman Christopher Harborne.
Labour Party chair Anna Turley has written formally to Farage demanding an explanation for the discrepancy between his declared valuation and the commercial market rate for equivalent private jet hire.
The Disputed Valuation
Farage declared the use of Harborne’s private jet — lent to him for a trip to Mauritius as part of a failed attempt to reach the Chagos Islands — as worth £25,000, an upward revision from an initial declaration of £12,500.
Turley disputes both figures. Citing a commercial rate of $11,500 (£8,575) per hour, and noting that the aircraft was at Farage’s disposal for two and a half days across a 23-hour flight, she calculates the true value at between $250,000 (£186,411) and $700,000 (£521,951).
“Your valuation of that donation at £12,500 — later amended to £25,000 — bears no relation to the market rate for any other provider of the equivalent services available in the private jet charter industry,” Turley wrote.
She warned that if Farage failed to provide “a full and accurate account,” she would refer the matter to parliamentary authorities.
A Pattern of Disclosure Failures
The accusation arrives against the backdrop of a separate, ongoing investigation by Westminster’s standards watchdog into whether Farage broke Commons rules by failing to declare a £5 million payment from Harborne following his election as MP for Clacton in 2024.
Farage has described that sum variously as a “personal gift” intended to fund his private security “for the rest of his life,” and as a “reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years” — characterisations that have drawn scepticism from ethics regulators and political opponents alike.
Earlier this month, Farage faced further calls for transparency after reports emerged that he purchased a £1.4 million house in cash in 2024, shortly after receiving the payment from Harborne.
Harborne’s Financial Ties to Reform UK
Harborne’s financial relationship with Farage and Reform UK has attracted sustained scrutiny. Last August, he donated £9 million to the party — the largest single donation to a British political party from a living individual on record. A further £3 million followed this year.
The cumulative scale of Harborne’s financial support, combined with the repeated disclosure irregularities, has raised questions about the adequacy of existing transparency frameworks governing political donations in the United Kingdom.
The Chagos Islands Backdrop
The private jet trip at the centre of the latest dispute was framed by Farage as a humanitarian mission. He claimed at the time that he was joining a delegation delivering aid to Chagossians attempting to establish a settlement on one of the outer islands of the archipelago.
Farage accused the British government of blocking his access to the Chagos Islands, using the episode to campaign against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer‘s agreement to transfer sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius. The trip ultimately did not reach its stated destination.
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.