Brussels, 25 June 2026
New revelations, first reported by the Financial Times, suggest far-right Brexit architect Nigel Farage used European Parliament funds to finance Brexit campaign expenses related to his then national party, Ukip. These funds, afforded to Parliament political groups, bear a high risk of fraud, as they lack adequate centralised or external oversight. These new reports indicate that some of the activities around the Brexit campaign could have breached the rules.
This warrants an immediate investigation by the European Parliament into what may be yet another case of a far-right political group misusing the Parliament funds it receives. Indeed, Mr. Farage and Ukip MEPs had also previously been found to have misused parliamentary money to fund domestic Ukip effort during their time in Brussels. Transparency International EU has most recently complained about both the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group, and its predecessor, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, allegedly misusing over 4.5m euros in total. This money comes directly from European taxpayers, who expect their elected representatives to use money in the public interest. Instead, time and again, far-right groups appear to be using taxpayer money for their own causes.
Nick Aiossa, Director at Transparency International EU, said:
“It is ironic that the EU’s staunchest detractor may have once more profited from monies taken from the very institution he claims to despise. Ten years since the UK voted to leave the EU, the European Parliament must still ensure that Mr Farage adhered to its spending rules. These cases should serve as a wake-up call for the European Parliament: it should manage public money itself, instead of delegating budgetary authority to political groups who cannot be trusted with such responsibility.”
