Nigel Farage had an absolute nightmare on 23 June. After weeks of ducking the media, he returned to TV studios to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Brexit. The consequence of this was that everyone got to see why Farage has been avoiding journalists – namely because they’d ask about the ‘£5m gift’ scandal.
While most of the attention has been on Farage’s inability to provide a good answer to this, there was another response that has drawn criticism. It’s a response that HSBC whistleblower ‘Mr Ethical’ has made everyone aware of:
Farage claimed in interviews today that he claimed 0 in expenses. Here are Farage's expenses.
H/t @PShootLFWW pic.twitter.com/yuYNy5C19w
— Mr Ethical
(@nw_nicholas) June 23, 2026
Farage expenses
Farage’s £5m gift came to him via the foreign-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. This handout caused controversy for a number of reasons – namely that Farage:
- Did not declare the ‘gift’, and is facing multiple investigations as a result.
- Has subsequently promoted crypto to his followers – giving rise to the impression that he’s in the pocket of a crypto magnate.
- Is struggling to give a clear answer as to what the £5m lump sum was even for.
If you have a spare 3 mins and 45 secs today, watch this fantastic grilling by Sally Nugent on BBC Breakfast.
The very first time I've seen Farage questioned properly about his £5M bung, and it's fair to say, he totally fluffed it.
There are points when you can see Farage… pic.twitter.com/fn71FiTtcP
— Don McGowan (@donmcgowan) June 23, 2026
As Maddison Wheeldon reported for the Canary, the BBC’s Sally Nugent:
pointed out the parliamentary watchdog is investigating the “gift”, prompting Farage to stress he hasn’t claimed personal expenses. Given how rarely he shows up in Westminster, that’s hardly surprising.
Farage’s record is definitely abysmal. As of Wednesday 24 June, there have been 545 votes in this sitting of parliament. Of those, Farage bothered to show up for 170. This means his voting record is just 31%, or less than a third of all possible votes.
Skiving aside, you may note that Farage referred to ‘personal expenses’ – not ‘expenses’. This definition is important. And as we’ll explain, it seems like Farage may have sought to deceive viewers with his wording.
Expenses
The man calling out Nigel is Mr Ethical – a.k.a. HSBC whistleblower Nicholas Wilson. As Wilson himself explained, he was “named Mr Ethical by corrupt lawyers”. Regarding his mission to expose HSBC, the Guardian wrote in 2021:
Nicholas Wilson has spent years pursuing HSBC over the way it treated some people who fell behind with payments, and when he claimed the bank might owe customers more than £200m, it arguably sounded pretty fanciful.
For more than a decade he was ignored and dismissed but HSBC eventually set up a £4m compensation scheme to remedy “a historical issue”.
Having achieved some success against HSBC, Wilson now draws attention to other unscrupulous actors. On the difference between ‘personal expenses’ and ‘expenses’, Wilson explained:
A few people have pointed out that Farage said "personal" expenses. Yes, he did, but MPs are not allowed to claim personal expenses https://t.co/DCKWusY0R4 pic.twitter.com/x6UOdsfWM0
— Mr Ethical
As such, it seems that one of two things must be true:
- Farage said ‘personal expenses’ meaning ‘expenses’, and therefore was lying.
- Farage said he doesn’t claim ‘personal expenses’ knowing full well he couldn’t even if he wanted to, and therefore was being deceptive.
It may be some time before we get an answer to this, as Farage is unlikely to brave another antagonistic interview anytime soon. In the meantime, be sure to follow Nicholas for the latest analysis on what’s spewing out of the side of Farage’s mouth:
Farage says Harborne lives in U.K. He lives in Thailand and has done for at least 25 years. #ChargeFarage pic.twitter.com/vdur3c2gbY
— Mr Ethical
Featured image via the Canary
By Willem Moore
