Farage under mounting pressure to prove Russian hack claim

Nigel Farage is under mounting pressure to provide evidence for his claim that a state-sponsored Russian hack was behind the disclosure of the £5m gift he received from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Reform UK claimed over the weekend that analysis of Farage’s phone by “counter-espionage experts” suggested that “Farage’s phone, email and bank accounts were compromised by hostile actors, almost certainly linked to Moscow, using spear phishing tactics”, before the Guardian revealed details of his undeclared gift last month. Farage told the Mail on Sunday that the alleged Russian activity was “deeply concerning” and highlighted the “threat they pose to British security”. Farage’s claims followed intensifying scrutiny of the £5m gift he received from Harborne. Farage had not publicly declared the gift, despite parliamentary transparency rules requiring MPs to register gifts and donations above a certain threshold. A spokesperson for the Guardian described Farage’s claim as “an attempt to deflect attention from legitimate scrutiny of his financial affairs”. They added: “Nigel Farage is once again hiding behind a baseless attack on the media rather than facing up to scrutiny from journalists and politicians.” The spokesperson said it was absurd for Farage to suggest it had found out about the gift from a Russian hack. After Farage made the allegation on Sunday, Labour and the Conservatives called on him to hand any evidence he has to Britain’s security services. …