James O'Brien reacts to Nigel Farage 'coming out of hiding'

Normally you can't get further into frontline politics than being the leader of a party, and he wasn't the leader of a party.It turns out you can.You can get further into politics than being the leader of a party.You can actually Own it!

With all due respect, what's it got to do with you?Well, because it speaks to the position you hold in office.Initially, we were told that it was because of your personal security and it would pay for that for the rest of your life.Then apparently it was some kind of reward for campaigning for Brexit.I am told we have two different stories.Which is the truth?

I think you're contradicting yourself there, aren't you?

Well, if you tell me what happened with the £5 million, then we're solved.It's an unconditional gift.I can spend it on Ferraris if I want.That'd be entirely up to me.Why did you say it was for personal security then?Because it was given as an unconditional gift, right?

The understanding is, and you know very well, you know very well, I've been physically more attacked over many years than any other politician.

I've been with you when you've been abused, I've seen that.But I just, my listeners want to know, Mr Frye, how much has been spent?I can deal with it.Nick, I can deal with it as I want.I can do what I want with it.

Yes, you are under review though by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.Well, and maybe we shouldn't be discussing it in that case, but what I will say to you is I know, I know that I will need protection until I die.I've no idea how long that will be, none of us do, but I know that it's damned expensive and I now don't have to worry or even think about that because repeatedly over the years what I've asked for help from the state, I've been refused.So it was a reward for personal security?Sorry, Nick, you're confusing two things.One is the money comes in, the other is where it goes, right?

I can do with it as I wish, but I know myself what it's for.How much has been spent?I bought a cup of coffee this morning.Was that from that money or from what I earned from GB News?These are ridiculous questions.

But do you not...I remind you, used to sit in this very chair, listeners are concerned about the probity here.Well, the probity would be if it was a political donation.

Right?If it's personal...

No, I know it was in a personal capacity.I want to make plain, you were not an MP when funds were received.Exactly.

Has it, as some newspapers have suggested, been used to purchase property?No.And look, they can lie all they like.As I say, if I'm seen buying a round of drinks in a pub, they will say it came from that.It's irrelevant.

So just lastly, it's not bought a property, it's not done renovations on property.It will only ever be spent because of the campaigning you did, which resulted in the vote 10 years ago today.You have concerns over your personal security for the rest of your days.I do.

And as for the property thing, that was completed.That was agreed and the money was checked well before.But look, but as I say, this is ridiculous because you can ask me this for the next 10 years.You know, as I say, you bought a round of drinks.Where did that money come from?It isn't like that, is it?

Well, no, but I mean, if you just came out and said, you're saying now that there's nothing to see here as regards purchases of houses, renovations of houses, we can finally put this to bed.

And even if there was, it would be irrelevant.But you did have two stories.No, there are not two stories.One is I was given the money unconditionally.I believe it was a reward for giving up a quarter of a century of my life, giving up a huge income in the city of London, putting up with lots of abuse.I believe that was the motive.

Whether it was or not, that is that side of the equation.The other side of the equation is what I intend to do with it.I've madethat perfectly clear.

He literally owned Reform UK.I'm going to say that again because, as is often the case with Farage, I find it extraordinary how little people know about stuff that is in the public domain.He literally owned Reform UK until February of 2025, set it up in 2018 as a private limited company with Farage holding the majority of shares.So he owned it when he took five million quid from Christopher Harbourn in secret.He owned a political party.He owned a British political party when he took a secret five million quid from a Thai -based billionaire set to benefit from policies that Farage announced shortly after taking five million quid from a Thai -based billionaire.

So please, just send a postcard to your favourite interviewers and tell them that the next time he says, I wasn't in politics at the time, they have to come back and say, otherwise they not only sound ridiculous, but betray all of their viewers and listeners.You have to come back and say, well, you did actually own the party, Mr Farage.You literally owned the party.You owned a majority of shares in a private limited company called Reform UK.So how can you possibly claim you weren't in frontline politics?You'd say, wouldn't you, normally, you can't get further into frontline politics than being the leader of a party.

And he wasn't the leader of a party.It turns out you can.You can get further into politics than being the leader of a party.You can actually own it.You can own the party while secretly taking five million pounds from a Thai -based crypto billionaire who subsequentlybenefit from policies you announced after taking the five million pounds secretly from a crypto billionaire.

And pity the newsreaders who can't keep up.What's the current story?That he got it for his security?I hate this.I actually hate that line that he spouts about being the most attacked politician in the country because I imagine Joe Cox's children listening to that or David Amos's daughter listening to that claim.He's had a milkshake thrown at him.

They got murdered.and he has the audacity to claim that he's the most attacked politician in the country.The man is a whining coward.It's extraordinary that he would...Well, it's not, is it?Because this is the man that heard Henry Novak's grieving father explain that his son's death had nothing to do with racism or race and plead with the proponents of public discourse not to pretend otherwise and up Pop Farage to claim and lie otherwise to claim that poor Henry's ethnicity had anything to do with his death or indeed his treatment by the police.

And so we shouldn't be surprised that he would.I mean, in fact, when Joe Cox was assassinated by a white supremacist terrorist, Farage was out of the block so fast to start attacking the Remain movement that you couldn't see him for dust.That, of course, was on the morning that he unveiled that poster, the breaking point poster with all the echoes of Nazi propaganda.So, listen, I mean, I can do this all day, but the point is that when he comes out with one of his bloviations or some of his...I wasn't a politician when I took that money, it was a personal gift.No, it wasn't.

It was a gift to the owner of a political party in this country, the actual owner of a political party in this country.So to call it a political party,gift... is not only an act of epic dishonesty, but it's also an act of craven sycophancy.Because what you're doing is you're allowing a man to lie about something as significant as a £5 million gift from a billionaire who subsequently saw policies being announced that would make him even richer.You're allowing him to lie that he wasn't in politics at the time when he literally owned the party that has taken over.in excess of £20 million from the same bloke, without any of us knowing, until some journalists did some actual journalism, that he'd also taken £5 million secretly, secretly, from a Thai -based billionaire.

and he was the owner of the party.Do I need to write this down for people to point it out to him when he turns up for one of his traditional toe -tickling exercises?He was the owner of the party.Actually, that's not fair.He didn't get his toes tickled today.Sally Nugent on the BBC was particularly impressive.

on this question which he is obviously desperate to bury.But you can't, you cannot have a politician in this country with five million pounds in his pocket from a foreign -based billionaire set to benefit from policies that have already been announced and God knows what else he's hoping for and expecting in return.Because when a liar tells you that there's no quid pro quo, when a liar tells you that the donor isn't expecting anything in return, when a liar tells you that he's the most attacked politician in British history or in recent British politics, when two British politicians are in their actual graves as a consequence of murder, then it's up to you whether or not you believe the liar.That's all.It's up to you whether or not you believe that someone who's given over £20 million to the party that he owned gave £5 million secretly to the actual owner without expecting anything in return.You are perfectly free to conclude, no, I'm sure that's entirely above board and the bloke that gave over £20 million to the party did not give £5 million to the owner of that party in expectation of some sort of reward or benefit.

He owned the party.Even I had to double check that.I thought surely other people would have pointed that out if it's true.But somewhere in the back of my head I'm thinking, I'm sure beginning of last year, February 2025, it was announced that he'd given up ownership of Reform UK, saying he wanted to give more control to its members.I said, well, if he only gave up ownership in 2025 and he took the five million quid in 2024, then he must have been the actual owner of the party when he took the five million quid and now claims that he wasn't involved in politics at the time.How can you not be involved in politics while owning an actual party?

Sheesh, do you think anyone will put that to him next time he pops his head above the parapet?I hope so.He was encouraged this morning.Some of the interviews conducted with him were pretty robust.Do you think it'd be...I mean, how could you not point out to him that he owned the party?

I'll tell you why, because it doesn't get reported properly.It doesn't get reported with anything like the attention to detail or the excitement that was reserved, for example, for Keir Starmer's spectacle.£5 million to the owner of a political party, and they expect you to believe that there was absolutely no quid pro quo involved.That's all.While we're on the subject,of things that you're expected to believe, and indeed foreign -based billionaires, there are two reasons why you might want this man to be Prime Minister.

One is that you're a foreign -based billionaire.That's not fair.One is that you're a billionaire, and the other is that you're a mug.And I've got some fantastic news for you.You can work out which one you are right now just by looking at your own bank account.Are you a billionaire or are you a mug?

Because if you want this character who took five million quid secretly from a foreign billionaire while he owned a political party to have anything to do with the running of this country, then you are either a billionaire or a mug.And it's really easy to work out which.