Anna Gross

Political Correspondent at the Financial Times * [email protected] * views mine *

[David Yelland @davidyelland]

Where was the money coming from? Combo of Sunday Times Insight and now FT getting there: Betting account in George Cottrell’s name received $9mn in crypto from unidentified sources
https://t.co/0DvoQx8Lfr

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

Betting account in George Cottrell’s name received $9mn in crypto from unidentified sources

Great @AnnaSophieGross / FT scoop

https://t.co/jBlQHRoVaY

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

NEW: Reform UK volunteer George Jones who left Farage's campaign in 2024 after undercover reporters showed him calling the Pride flag “degenerate” and suggesting LGBT people are paedophiles has quietly returned to run its Patrons’ Club

https://t.co/t1qpzyWBTG

[Patrick Baker @patrickxrbaker]

PMQs today was a lively one and ended up being dominated by the shocking case of Henry Nowak.

With the FT’s @AnnaSophieGross and BBC’s @TVNaga01 . Listen to our post-match analysis here on @bbc5live earlier.

[BBC Newsnight @BBCNewsnight]

Nigel Farage is facing questions over the funding of a house he bought without a mortgage

@vicderbyshire looks at the details

#Newsnight

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

Reform said: “Nigel has multiple sources of income, as you can see from his parliamentary register.”

His spox did not respond to a question about whether it was still accurate that he used the reality TV money to pay for the house.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

NEW: Nigel Farage’s claim that he paid for a £1.4mn house with his fee from a reality TV show has been challenged by corporate accounts that appear to show the income remained on his company’s balance sheet after the property purchase.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

Farage’s spox told the BBC on Friday that he had paid for the £1.4mn house on *May 10 2023* with his fee from I’m a Celebrity.
But accounts show his company's cash increased from £300k on May 31 2023 to £1.7mn on May 31 2024, and suggest no dividend was paid out in the period.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

In the same month Nigel Farage bought a £1.4mn house in cash - weeks after he got a £5mn gift from Christopher Harborne for his "security" (h/t @AliFortescue), Farage put in an app to rebuild his house in New Romney into a modern three-storey home with a basement conversion

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

@StuartGulleford He wasn't a frontline politician in April 2024 Stuart -- in fact it was exactly around the time he got the gift from Harborne

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

NEW: On the £5mn Harborne gift (which Farage says he didn’t have to declare because it was to cover his security before he became an MP)

Farage did declare a donation from George Cottrell in mid-April 2024, which covered his accommodation and travel and “security provision”.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

So it seems as though Cottrell paid for Farage’s “security provision” on this trip AFTER Harborne gave him £5mn to cover his security for life.

“This money was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life" -- Farage

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

And, when @Annaisaac first reported this story, Farage’s spox said Farage received the gift from Harborne “two months” before he announced his intention to stand on June 3 2024 - he even got me to correct my copy from “weeks”, to “two months”.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

Nigel Farage appears to be planning a stunt this morning to subsidise fuel at the petrol pump in Buxton, Derbyshire

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

@alfie_less @TiceRichard @FT I also wasn't a huge fan of this still. Thanks for sharing Alfie.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

@MattBarbet Nice one!

[Stefan Rousseau @StefanRousseau]

Photo du Jour: Reform leader @Nigel_Farage watches on as journalists question Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick. By Stefan Rousseau/PA

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

Are you referring to me? I went to state schools in Oxford but I don't have a problem with people who went to private school (e.g. my husband).
I do think it's notable if the person who wants to be education secretary chooses to send their children to private school, and at least deserves a bit of an explanation if that is the case.

[Anna Gross @AnnaSophieGross]

I didn't go to a private school, but I don't have a problem with people who did e.g. my husband.
Just think there are some people in the country who will wonder about the shadow cabinet's commitment to state education.
And think it's fair to ask if they would / have sent their children to state schools