Late on Tuesday afternoon, as the British media absorbed Nigel Farage’s decision to force a byelection amid scrutiny over his finances, his Reform UK party supplied the Telegraph with a different story. The article revealed that Richard Tice, the deputy leader, had accused the National Crime Agency (NCA) of leaking his private financial information to the media. Tice said both he and Farage were subjects of the claimed leaks.
To the average reader it appeared a serious, unprompted allegation. But the story emerged only after the Guardian had approached Reform with questions about a £5m gift to Farage from a cryptocurrency billionaire that had been reported to the NCA. The Telegraph story also contained details of donations and loans Tice and his company received from George Cottrell – a close ally of Farage and a convicted fraudster – and Cottrell’s mother, Fiona. Again, those details had recently been put to Reform by the Guardian.
“Reform UK gave Telegraph a story accusing NCA of leaking Tice's data after Guardian probed Farage's finances.”
It was an extreme example of a Fleet Street “spoiler” – handing a problematic story to a more sympathetic outlet. And it was not the first time. In April, after the Guardian approached Farage over an undisclosed £5m from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, the Telegraph ran an interview in which Farage claimed his home had been firebombed. It also slipped in the fact that Harborne had given Farage around £5m “to pay for his security”.
Tice has now written to the NCA’s boss asking whether the agency is responsible for leaking his financial information. Payments to his organisations were flagged to the NCA as part of its Suspicious Activity Reports programme, which alerts law enforcement to potential money laundering. Tice said he only became aware of the reports when contacted by the Guardian. Reform UK believes the paper’s information is likely to have come from the NCA.
A spokesperson for the NCA said: “The NCA does not confirm or deny the receipt of suspicious activity reports, nor comment on how any SAR is used. SARs are confidential and breaching that confidentiality risks committing a tipping off offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act.”
Data from the Electoral Commission shows that Tice’s think tank, Britain Means Business, received a £1m donation from Cottrell’s mother in June 2024, and donated £500,000 to Reform UK the same month. Tice’s company Tisun Investment received an £80,000 loan from Cottrell in late 2024. The NCA was notified about both payments via the SAR programme, which logged 866,616 cases in 2024/25. It is understood the agency often makes SAR information available to police and other organisations.
The Cottrell connection has already inflamed the row around Farage. At Tuesday’s press conference, Farage turned on a Sunday Times journalist who revealed Cottrell had funded his security and social media staff in the year before he became an MP. Reform has argued that Farage did not breach parliamentary guidelines by not declaring the support, calling it “purely personal”. But the use of a spoiler to deflect attention raises questions about the party’s approach to transparency at a time when its leader is fighting to hold his seat.