Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Nigel Farage over a £5m gift he received before the general election, and ruled out any electoral pact with Reform UK. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Badenoch said the idea of a deal was 'stone-dead' after Reform's poor showing in Thursday's by-elections.
The gift, from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, is under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner. Badenoch questioned Farage's account of the money, which he initially said was for personal security and later claimed was a reward for his Brexit campaigning. 'What kind of character accepts £5m in cash and says it was merely a gift?' she wrote.
In the by-elections, Labour's Andy Burnham won Makerfield with a majority of over 9,000, while the Scottish Tories defeated the SNP in Aberdeen South, with Reform coming a distant third. Badenoch said the results justified her refusal to 'unite the right' with Reform, whom she described as dressing 'like Thatcherites but act like Corbynites'.
A Reform spokesperson responded: 'We won't need to ever deal with the Tories. They broke Britain and we won't give them a chance to do it again.'
