Briefly
- Labour MP Phil Brickell has reported Nigel Farage to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Requirements, alleging he lobbied the Financial institution of England on crypto coverage that would profit his greatest donor.
- The criticism facilities on a personal September 2025 assembly wherein Farage reportedly urged Governor Andrew Bailey to drop plans for a state-run digital pound.
- Farage acquired an undeclared £5 million ($6.7 million) reward from Tether investor Christopher Harborne, who has individually given Reform UK an extra £15 million.
Reform UK chief Nigel Farage has been reported to Parliament’s requirements watchdog over allegations that he lobbied the Financial institution of England on cryptocurrency coverage in a approach that would profit his greatest donor, a serious investor in stablecoin issuer Tether.
Phil Brickell, a Labour MP who chairs the parliamentary group on anti-corruption and accountable tax, has requested the Parliamentary Commissioner for Requirements, Daniel Greenberg, to look at Farage’s dealings with the central financial institution. Parliamentary guidelines bar MPs from approaching officers or ministers on behalf of people that pay them, for 12 months after such a cost.
“Earlier than assembly the governor of the Financial institution of England, Farage brazenly championed Tether, criticised proposed restrictions on stablecoins and vowed to problem the Financial institution’s strategy,” Brickell instructed the Guardian, including that Farage “has since claimed credit score for persuading the Financial institution to melt its place.”
Assembly the Financial institution
The criticism facilities on a personal assembly final September, at which Farage reportedly urged Governor Andrew Bailey to scrap plans for a central financial institution digital forex, or “Britcoin,” an concept he has stated he would go to jail to dam. Farage later claimed credit score for pushing the Financial institution to melt its strategy, and final week it dropped a proposed £20,000 cap on particular person stablecoin holdings that he had publicly attacked.
A second Labour MP, Joe Powell, has written to Bailey to request particulars of the assembly, arguing that, “Choices regarding the UK’s monetary system, together with these involving financial institution digital currencies, have to be made within the public curiosity and on the premise of rigorous, impartial evaluation, not formed behind closed doorways to learn particular person financiers.”
Brickell stated the case goes past crypto, turning on whether or not an MP “who has acquired hundreds of thousands from one particular person” ought to advance insurance policies that would elevate the worth of that donor’s investments.
That donor is Christopher Harborne, a British, Thailand-based billionaire who holds a 12% stake in USDT issuer Tether, and sits sixth on the Sunday Instances Wealthy Record.
An undeclared reward
The Reform UK chief accepted an undeclared £5 million ($6.7 million) reward from Harborne previous to standing within the July 2024 basic election. On the time, Farage had not introduced plans to run as a Member of Parliament, and the reward was undeclared to parliamentary authorities.
Per the Guardian, he additionally took two £25,000 political donations from Harborne, in January 2025 and February 2026 for journeys to the U.S. and the Chagos Islands, whereas Reform UK acquired an extra £15 million from the billionaire between final August and February. Greenberg is individually investigating whether or not Farage ought to have declared the £5 million private reward.
Farage and Harborne have each stated the billionaire wished nothing in return, whereas Farage’s account of the reward has shifted, from a contribution to his safety, to a reward for his Brexit campaigning, to cash he can spend as he likes. He has known as it “unconditional” and “a purely personal matter,” and Reform UK has dismissed the broader allegations as “utter garbage.” Labour has additionally accused Farage of dodging scrutiny.
The Financial institution of England stated the September assembly was a part of its routine engagement with political figures and acknowledged that Farage and Bailey held differing views on the digital pound, however it has not launched any minutes.
Farage has beforehand styled himself a “champion” for the cryptocurrency area, calling for the UK to determine a Bitcoin strategic reserve and pushing for decrease capital positive aspects taxes on digital belongings.
Decrypt has reached out to Nigel Farage and Phil Brickell for remark, and can replace this text ought to they reply.
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