Ciaran Martin, the former head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has dismissed Nigel Farage's claim that a Russian hack was behind a Guardian report on a £5m gift as 'without any merit' and 'entirely unsubstantiated'. Farage, leader of Reform UK, alleged that the Guardian's revelation of a donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne resulted from a Russian 'hack-and-leak' operation.
Martin said that if true, the claim would have major implications for UK policy towards Russia, but Farage had yet to provide 'a shred of evidence'. He noted that an operation by the Kremlin would amount to an 'unprecedentedly aggressive intervention' into British democracy, and urged Farage to contact the NCSC and make public any technical evidence.
Farage's allegation followed a parliamentary standards inquiry into his failure to declare the gift from Harborne in 2024. Farage claims the gift was exempt as personal and for security. A Reform UK source said analysis of Farage's phone suggested compromise by 'hostile actors, almost certainly linked to Moscow'.
A Guardian spokesperson described Farage's claim as 'an attempt to deflect attention from legitimate scrutiny of his financial affairs'. Martin stressed that the onus was on Farage to report the matter to authorities, saying: 'An aspiring prime minister should treat it with the utmost seriousness and cooperate fully.'
