Nigel Farage has sparked controversy by downplaying the £30,000 worth of plane tickets to the US he received from friends, insisting they are “not really gifts.” The Reform UK leader made the comments during his speech at the party’s conference in Birmingham, where he took the opportunity to mock Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for accepting freebies worth £100,000 since 2019.
Farage, who has only been an MP for a few months, has made several trips to the US, with his constituency surgeries in Clacton being put on hold during that time. He defended the plane tickets, stating, “I had a friend going to America, I hopped on the plane. Is that a gift?”
The Register of Members’ Interests shows Farage accepted tickets for himself and a staffer, totalling £32,836. Farage explained that the purpose of his trip was “to support a friend who was almost killed and to represent Clacton on the world stage.” His visit came just days after former US President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, though it remains unclear if Farage met with Trump during his time in the US.
During his speech in the Midlands, Farage took a swipe at Starmer, who has faced criticism for accepting multiple freebies, including £2,485 worth of glasses from Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli. Farage mockingly pulled out a pair of glasses from his pocket and quipped, “Very expensive, but I bought them myself.”
The register also reveals that Starmer received work clothing worth £16,200 from Lord Alli, further fuelling the ongoing debate over MPs accepting high-value gifts. While Starmer has faced scrutiny for accepting luxurious items, Farage’s dismissal of his own expensive travel arrangements as “not really gifts” adds another layer to the controversy.
Farage’s comments come as MPs from all sides face increasing pressure to justify the gifts and hospitality they receive, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis. The debate surrounding freebies has become a hot topic, with both Starmer and Farage facing questions about transparency and the potential for conflicts of interest.
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