Farage faces questions over failure to declare use of donor's helicopter

"Nigel Farage is facing questions about why he did not declare his use of a donor's helicopter to travel around Britain for rallies. The helicopter, which was used by Farage as recently as Friday after local elections across Britain, is the property of a company owned by Lorenzo Zaccheo, a businessman who gave Reform 25,000 last year. Farage was pictured in May last year getting off the helicopter in Kent after his party won the county council elections there, and data shows that it has travelled to and from other locations on dates when Reform rallies were being held."

"When questioned about why Farage had not declared the travel, Reform UK said the flights had been paid for at commercial rates and there was no undeclared registrable interest arising from those flights. But the party did not respond to follow-up questions about who paid for the flights and whether they were paid for by Farage himself, who may face an inquiry over an undeclared 5m gift he was given by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage has said the donation was to cover his personal security."

"The helicopter's movements in 2025 were recorded in publicly available data analysed by the investigative news site Democracy for Sale. It comes after political opponents last week queried Farage's claim that a return trip to the Maldives on a private jet linked to Harborne, the Thailand-based Reform mega-donor, cost as little as 25,000 as the Reform leader attempted to reach the Chagos Islands. Reform did not reply to requests for comment."

"Anna Turley, the chair of the Labour party, said: Nigel Farage has form on being less than transparent about the cost of flights. It looks like he massively underdeclared the commercial cost of private jet trips to the Maldives donated by his billionaire backer, Christopher Harborne. Now he expects us to take at face value, without providing a shred of evidence, an assertion that Reform paid full commercial rates for helicopter flights provided by another wealt"

A helicopter used by Nigel Farage to travel around Britain for rallies is owned by a company linked to Lorenzo Zaccheo, who donated £25,000 to Reform last year. The helicopter was used as recently as Friday after local elections, and its recorded movements align with dates when Reform rallies occurred. Farage was previously pictured using the helicopter after electoral success in Kent. Reform UK said the flights were paid at commercial rates and created no undeclared registrable interest, but it did not answer follow-up questions about who paid, including whether Farage paid personally. Farage may also face scrutiny over an undeclared £5m gift from Christopher Harborne, which he said was for personal security. Political opponents also questioned the reported cost of a Harborne-linked private jet trip to the Maldives.

Read at www.theguardian.com