Chris Mason: Accusations around Farage leave him looking vulnerable to his rivals

Image source, PA Media By Chris Mason Political editor Published 12 minutes ago Once again, the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is in the news and at the heart of the headlines are power, transparency and money. Vast amounts of money, in the view of his critics far too little transparency and a party that opinion polls suggest is the favourite to win power at the next general election. The ongoing swirl of stories about Farage has put him on the back foot – he has been much less visible in front of the cameras and has come across , external as uncomfortable, even irritable, at the questions thrown his way as a result. His argument is none of this relates to taxpayers' money and it collectively amounts to ongoing attempts to undermine both him and Reform UK. But it does relate to huge quantities of money and big questions about what that money can buy – particularly given the connections to cryptocurrency and Farage's long standing desire to liberalise the UK's approach to digital currencies. The Reform leader has long argued his views on crypto are long standing and gifts buy nothing in terms of influence. Farage says he's 'done no wrongdoing' after benefits from ally not declared Published 5 minutes ago 'Posh George': Who is aristocrat and convicted criminal at heart of Farage controversy? Published 20 hours ago Farage says £5m gift spending details 'not public's business' Published 23 June In truth, all of this is what scrutiny looks like when you are a candidate for prime minister, as Nigel Farage is. And for the first time in a long time, Reform's political rivals spot a party encountering turbulence. So let's take a look at the House of Commons Code of Conduct , external and then examine Farage's conduct. On pages three and four of the document, it is spelt out that "members must fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of the registration of interests in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. "New members must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election." So what wouldn't need to be registered? On pages 19 and 20, it says: "Benefits which could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the House or to the member's parliamentary or political activities, for example purely personal gifts or benefits from partners or family members. "However, both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered." Nigel Farage argues that both the £5m gift from the Thailand based British cryptocurrency investor and billionaire Christopher Harborne and the support from George Cottrell, who is also heavily involved in crypto, were gifts he received before he was an MP and at a time when he was not involved in politics. Harborne has previously said he "wasn't expecting anything in return"