Farage says Britain is a 'complainants' society' as Reform funding questions mount

Nigel Farage has said the UK is a "complainants' society" as the Reform UK leader faces continuing questions about both his own finances and his party's, in an interview with BBC political editor Chris Mason.

Speaking before Reform's annual conference, which begins in Birmingham on Thursday, Farage said a "whole ecosystem" did not want "new kids on the block succeeding". He accepted the party's poll ratings had taken a hit compared with last year — JOE reported this week on Reform dropping to third in new polling — but said the party would rebound, and that it still had "every chance" of winning the next general election.

Reform's finances have dominated headlines through the summer. JOE has separately reported that the party has taken £20m from crypto investors since 2024, more than half of all its donations.

The two investigations hanging over Farage and Reform

A parliamentary investigation into the £5m Farage received from major Reform donor Christopher Harborne was relaunched following Farage's re-election in Clacton, after a by-election he called in the Essex seat.

Separately, the Metropolitan Police is investigating whether payments to Reform in the weeks before the last election complied with donation laws. That inquiry is examining donations given directly to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of longstanding Farage ally George Cottrell, and payments from a company controlled by Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice; the company received £1m from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024. Reform has insisted it has always complied with donations rules. Both inquiries are ongoing.

'We live in a complainants' society'

Asked whether he knew if the money donated by Fiona Cottrell had come from her son, Farage said he was not "involved in the transactions", but added that he "had been told it's her money". In a video clip from the same interview, he said: "I firmly believe I have broken no rules."

"The point is, we live in a complainants' society," he said. "If you complain about me, automatically that triggers an investigation." Political parties were "constantly writing to all the authorities", he argued, leaving Reform "under investigation every day for virtually everything we do".