Has anybody seen Nigel? Speculation swirls as Farage performs disappearing act

"It has been six days since Nigel Farage cancelled a scheduled appearance at a Reform UK rally in Sunderland, a key election target in Labour's heartlands. The reasons given chaos in government and what appeared to be an impending Labour leadership race seemed logical. After all, as a quotation sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte goes: never interfere with an enemy while he is in the process of destroying himself. Yet as the days have passed, the continued absence of a politician who has in recent years seemed almost omnipresent has become all the more stark."

"Reform was contacted to ask about Farage's whereabouts but gave no response. Nigel Farage dodges questions on 5m gift from crypto billionaire Of course, the elephant in the room has been the investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into a 5m gift given to Farage by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Normally happy to field a list of questions at press conferences at Westminster or elsewhere, Farage has been eager to avoid talking about the money since it was first revealed by the Guardian last month."

"The cancellation of last week's Sunderland rally accompanied by a Reform statement that the party would park our tanks on what was Labour's lawn another day came on the day it emerged he was facing an inquiry by the parliamentary commissioner for standards. It meant that celebrations of his party's historic breakthroughs in elections in England, Wales and Scotland earlier this month were somewhat curtailed. Normally, one might have expected political victory laps to have continued. Instead, stories about Farage's finances have continued to make headlines, while the politician has also provided a new explanation for why he accepted the gift."

"After previously saying the gift was for security purposes, he said in an interview on Thursday that the money was a reward for campaigning for Brexit. It was revealed on"

A scheduled Reform UK appearance by Nigel Farage in Sunderland was cancelled after reasons were given involving government chaos and an impending Labour leadership race. Six days later, Farage’s continued absence has drawn attention, with Reform offering no response when contacted about his whereabouts. The main focus has been an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage has avoided questions about the money since it was first revealed, and the cancellation occurred the same day the inquiry emerged. His earlier election celebrations were muted as coverage shifted to his finances. Farage also offered a new explanation for accepting the gift, saying it was a reward for campaigning for Brexit rather than security purposes.

Read at www.theguardian.com