Nigel Farage has launched a preemptive attack on the Commons standards committee, claiming it is biased against him and will not judge him fairly. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Farage said the committee, which will impose a punishment if he is found to have broken Commons rules, was biased against him.
“There are people on that standards committee who will judge me, who have reported me for Islamophobia. It is going to be a completely subjective judgment. There’s no objectivity in this,” Farage told the Mail. According to Christian Calgie, who interviewed Farage for the Mail, Reform UK sources are describing the committee as a “kangaroo court”.
Investigation into donations and lobbying
Allegations about MPs breaking parliamentary rules are investigated by Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards. He has confirmed that he is investigating the £5m donation. On Tuesday Farage implied undeclared donations from George Cottrell were also being investigated, and Greenberg is also being urged to investigate claims Farage broke lobbying rules.
In his speech on Tuesday Farage implied the standards inquiry was evidence of the establishment using “foul means” to defeat him. But this is his most explicit attack on the standards committee – and it implies that Farage now believes he will be found guilty of a serious breach of Commons rules.
Potential for harsher penalty
It is also a move that could see him facing a harsher penalty. The committee regularly imposes harsher punishments on MPs who have not cooperated with or respected the disciplinary process. In a case with some parallels, Boris Johnson condemned the privileges committee as a “kangaroo court” before it published its final report into him. The committee (comprised of MPs who also serve on the standards committee) said Johnson’s criticism amounted to “a further significant contempt” and this contributed to it proposing a 90-day suspension – which it was not able to enforce because Johnson resigned as an MP first.
In the interview Farage did not name the committee members he said had accused him of Islamophobia, but he may have been referring to a letter from Labour MPs saying the Equality and Human Rights Commission should investigate Islamophobia in Reform UK.
