Dosh George
Reform UK , Issue 1680

EVEN though he’s limiting any scrutiny to the friendliest of outlets as he prepares to fight himself in the Clacton by-election, Nigel Farage still can’t get his story straight about the financial support he has received from Christopher Harborne and George Cottrell.

Interviewed on the Triggernometry podcast last week, Farage was again absolutely clear that the cash and support he had received from convicted fraudster Cottrell was all during the period “between 2021 and 3 June 2024 when I wasn’t in politics – it is literally undeclarable in every single way. And what they’ve written and said about since I came back on 3 June, I’ve taken nothing from him since then. And he hasn’t given money to the party, or any of those things.”

Florida man
One of the things Farage did manage to register as a financial interest during his time as an MP (although he got it in late, earning a stern note from the parliamentary commissioner for standards) is payment for a flight from private jet hotspot Teterboro in New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida for a “personal meeting” and visit from 14-17 December 2024.

Days later, the Reform leader released photographs of him chinwagging with Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, and boasted he’d met vice-president JD Vance as well. And who was declared as the donor of the £15,276.72 flight? George Cottrell.

Slippery customers
Meanwhile, it must have been a tiring few weeks for Carter-Fuck, and in particular partner Claire Gill, who has been busy writing letters to hacks rebutting allegations about the firm’s client George Cottrell and hinting at the possibility of future legal proceedings should publication occur.

Eye readers may recall that Gill is the Carter-Fuck solicitor who sent legal threats on behalf of disappeared fraudster Ruja Ignatova, mastermind of the OneCoin crypto scam.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority had been prosecuting Gill over her actions on behalf of Ignatova, but earlier this year she was cleared of wrongdoing after arguing that she had done nothing wrong because she did not know the operation run by the since-disappeared con artist was fraudulent (Eyes passim).

The tribunal ruled that the case against her was based on “hindsight not evidence of professional misconduct”.

It remains to be seen what hindsight will reveal about her latest fraudulent client.

More top stories in the latest issue:

LABOUR EXCHANGE
Emails have emerged that show how viscerally Labour’s Josh Simons – who enabled Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster – hated Jeremy Corbyn.

CASH POINTLESS?
Wes Streeting was accepting donations for a potential leadership challenge deep into June, right up until Andy Burnham announced his candidacy.

REFORM CHARACTER
Fraudster George Cottrell denies any suggestion he was involved with or sought British customers for an online crypto casino, but various links are clear.

CALLED TO ORDURE
Things became technical when Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and his three top risk boffins turned up at the Commons treasury select committee.

THE LORD GIVETH
Businessman David Ross is heading for the House of Lords thanks to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch – whose party has long benefited from Ross’s largesse.

SCOTS REEL
Reverse ferreting is the order of the day at the SNP as it dallies over the fate of returning £667,000 of donations to the notorious Indyref2 campaign war chest.