Laura Kuenssberg rubbished claims from Nadhim Zahawi that Nigel Farage was the victim of a ‘Westminster pile-on.’
On Sunday morning, former Tory minister and current Reform member Zahawi appeared on Kuenssberg’s BBC politics show. This was just days after Farage had announced he was stepping down as MP for Clacton, sparking what looks set to be one of the most farcical by-elections in British political history.
Farage had said his decision to step down was as a result of a “witch hunt” against him, and argued he wanted to give Clacton voters the chance to deliver their verdict on him.
The Reform leader was of course under investigation from the parliament’s standards watchdog over an undeclared £5 million gift he received from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire shortly before he ran to be an MP.
This month, it was also revealed that Farage had received a host of gifts and payments from George Cottrell – who has been criminally charged for his involvement with an offshore crypto gambling platform implicated in illegal betting.
Reform voices are adamant that this is all a big stitch-up against Farage from the establishment media, and Zahawi is no different.
Speaking to Kuenssberg on Sunday, he said: “What Nigel has done is the right thing because it’s up to the people of Clacton to back him or sack him.
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“My experience is that Westminster, either through a co-ordinated attack on Reform or otherwise, is a pile-on to stop Nigel, to stop Reform.”
But Kuenssberg rightly pointed out to Zahawi that Farage with aims of being elected as the leader of the country, so it’s completely justified that he faces scrutiny.
She hit back: “You know this is exactly the kind of scrutiny that happens to anyone that wants to become prime minister, whether it’s a gift of millions of pounds or the field that Keir Starmer had for his mother’s donkey. This is scrutiny.”
Zahawi then claimed the parliament’s standards committee is a “kangaroo court of MPs who are all anti-Nigel”, conveniently ignoring that half fo the committee is made up of members of the public.
“The best scrutiny is the people of Clacton, because ultimately they will judge Nigel and they will judge the Reform Party,” he said.
“I think, at the moment, there is a co-ordinated attack on Nigel, on Reform.”
Well, at the moment Farage is going to be involved in a comical three horse-race, not with Labour, the Tories, Lib Dems or Greens, but with the mighty Count Binface and washed up actor Laurence Fox.
What a political endorsement that will be for him.