Nigel Farage has insisted his Brexit party does not accept donations in foreign currency and dismissed the Electoral Commission as being “full of remainers” as it visited his party’s office as part of a funding review.
The commission announced it was looking into the Brexit party’s donations after the former prime minister Gordon Brown urged it to investigate concerns over the legality of its funding.
Brown said there were risks that democracy was being damaged if the Brexit party was allowed to accept foreign and untraceable donations via PayPal. Political gifts of under £500, whether made via the online payments service or another route, do not have to be declared.
After the commission visited the party’s headquarters on Tuesday, a party spokesman said the commission had said “it has not seen any evidence of electoral offences”. The commission had said the visit was part of its “active oversight and regulation” of donations rather than an investigation.
The spokesman said: “We are pleased, but not surprised. We are keen to be as transparent as possible.”
Farage claimed the regulator was staffed by establishment figures and said he believed his party was “more compliant” than any others standing in the European elections.
In an interview with the Press Association, he lashed out at Channel 4 News, describing its reporters as “political activists”, after it said the insurance tycoon Arron Banks had spent approximately £450,000 on Farage in the year following the EU referendum in 2016.
Discussing his party’s donation system, Farage said: “I’ve got a team of four qualified accountants looking after our money, our income. I bet we’re more compliant than any of the other parties in this election.
“I’ve crossed with the Electoral Commission before – they are not a neutral organisation, absolutely full of remainers, full of establishment figures.”
Farage confirmed he had barred access to Channel 4 News following its reporting on Banks. “I’m not speaking to them now, they are political activists. They are supposed to be a public service broadcaster, they’re not behaving in that way.
“We as an organisation have at the moment lost respect for Channel 4 News.”
The editor of Channel 4 News, Ben De Pear, said the programme was trying to regain media access to Farage and his party.
We hope to resolve our access ban from Brexit Party events ASAP. We were unaware of the 6-week ban until last Thursday when we broadcast this Nigel Farage investigation, revealing he had been bankrolled by £450k from Arron Banks. Until then we had full access, including to Farage https://t.co/giVSm2CIxg
— Ben de Pear (@bendepear) May 21, 2019
A commission spokesman said its visit was a response to public concerns about the way the Brexit party raised funds. “Today’s visit is about taking a closer look at the systems the party has in place to receive funds. It gives us active oversight of the rules and this includes helping those regulated to understand them and to ensure there are systems in place to comply with them.
“As a newly registered party running a national election campaign who have put information into the public domain about the level of their fundraising, it is right and proper for the regulator to be in regular contact with the Brexit party.
“We have seen significant public concern about the way the party raises funds. We have not seen evidence of electoral offences, but the law in this area is complex and we want to satisfy ourselves that the party’s systems are robust.”
He added “We are an independent and impartial organisation which is accountable to parliament.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Farage told LBC the review showed that the establishment was “rotten to the core”.
He added: “We don’t take foreign currency, end of that conversation.”
His comments about foreign currency do not directly address concerns about foreign donations. In a report last year on digital campaigning, the commission recommended tighter controls to ensure money from foreign donors is not used in UK elections and referendum campaigns.
Those making donations of £500 or less do not have to verify that they are UK citizens. And whatever their origin, donations made to UK Paypal accounts are converted into pounds sterling.
Farage insisted the Brexit party was largely funded by people donating £25 each to become registered supporters.
He said: “We’ve got a different model; we don’t have a traditional members model. We are doing it differently. As for this accusation that there is something going wrong, I was in a room last night up in Bolton and I said: ‘Hands up how many of you are registered supporters of the Brexit party?’ and of the thousand or so people in the room, 90% of them put their hand up.”