Farage fails to declare gifts from rightwing US PR firm

When Nigel Farage waved goodbye to his Clacton constituents in July to say hello to his “friend” Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, he claimed he was right to make the trip. But documents filed with US authorities show that a rightwing PR firm covered the £3,000 he racked up at the Milwaukee Hilton – a donation Farage has not declared in the register of MP’s interests back in the UK.

CapitalHQ – a rightwing PR consultancy previously linked to jailed hard-right political activist, Steve Bannon – has been arranging hotels, transport and media appearances in the US for the Clacton MP, on what appears to be a no-fee arrangement. The consultancy has not declared any payments or reimbursement from Farage, but the MP has declared none of this additional help on the UK register of interests, claiming instead that the whole trip was funded by the Brexit backer Christopher Harbourne.

The documents were filed with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires organisations who carry out political activities involving people who are not US citizens to declare “activities, receipts and disbursements”.

Good Law Project’s executive director, Jo Maugham, said, “Farage has now spent so much time out of his Clacton constituency to campaign for Trump and raise his own profile in the United States, that he has now appeared on their foreign agents database.

 “The registration documents we’ve seen raise serious questions around the rightwing forces powering Farage and why he seems to have failed to declare the support he has received to parliament.”

We looked into Farage’s financial relationship with CapitalHQ with the Guardian.

When asked if he sought advice about registering the PR services, a spokesperson for Farage told the newspaper: “Nigel Farage is a politician, not an accountant.”

Farage might think he is above the rules and can dismiss accusations of wrongdoing. But politicians have a duty to account for the donations and gifts they accept. It’s not an optional extra.