Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on Nigel Farage resigning and triggering a by-election

Right-wing UK politician Nigel Farage is set to spend more than half a million dollars after triggering a by-election in the electorate where he's already an MP.

It comes after criticism over his financial support, after local media reported he had not declared benefits.

The Reform UK leader has also faced questions over a five-million pound gift, which he didn't register.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Farage will stand for the Clacton seat again - but experts have raised questions over the implications of this move. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Devin Gray UK correspondence with that's Elogevin hither oh Nigel Farash,
So is this just a distraction technique from him?

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Is it? That's what he is being accused of. It
was meant I think as a sort of sack me
or back me kind of invitation. So Nigel Faros currently
under investigation over some political over some donations which the
authorities here are saying he should have reported, along with

(00:28):
other MPs, anything that is donated to him even before
he becomes an MP. Now he says, well, these were
personal donations. They came to meet well before the period
at which I was supposed to report them, and so
consequently I didn't report them and everything is fine. Well,
I'm afraid the row still goes on. He then said, right,

(00:49):
I'm going to stand down in my local constituency and
clacked into the East of London and then I gaed
to restand the by election. Well, now all the other
parties are pulling out. The Conservatives, the Main Position Party, Labor,
the Government, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party Restore Britain have
all ruled out contesting the Clacton by election. The reformer
leaders said that he would refight this and describe it

(01:11):
as a people versus the establishment by election. The Foreign
Secretary has said the election shouldn't be happening and accused
Niger Farasa throwing a political tantrum as a distraction to
those investigations. So at the moment we're left with Nigro
Pharas saying he's going to resign. At the moment, we're
saying that there's a by election with possibly just him

(01:32):
and one other candidate from a very minor party, and
what purpose will it serve? Now? By elections aren't cheap.
That said, Niger Pharos has offered to pay for it
as well to prove that he isn't trying to waste money,
which is something that also he bangs on about. So
at the moment, a really really disjointed future for the
people of Clacton. There are others saying, good, let's have

(01:54):
a by election and just nobody go and vote, But
what a waste of time and effort that would be.
The investigations into the financial claims will continue anyway, and
whether this has been a big mistake by Nigel Barras
or not waits to be seen.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
How do you write Marine Leapin's chances at the presidency.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Looking pretty good at the moment. So Marine Lapen is
head of the Right National Rally Party, the far right
National Rally Party, and she gave a television address last
night our time, so roughly twelve hours ago, in which
she said she would stand. The reason that's all suddenly
coming out why would the favorite not stand in an

(02:35):
election to become president is because she had had a
court case go against her in which she was accused
of running a fake jobs scheme using EU funds to
fund party workers for her own political party. And she
was sentenced to detention, but that was going to be
at home with an electronic tag and refused to stand

(02:58):
for office for five years. The Peel Court yesterday announced
that actually the sentence was effectively finished already, they had
reviewed it and she could now stand for a political office.
But she still has to wear a tag. Now she's
still saying, well, this is unfair because the wearing of
electronic tag will mean that every single move I make

(03:19):
for the election period is going to be known to
the authorities. But it's a really big political gamble she's taking.
If she had not taken it, she would have handed
the candidacy to a very very popular president of the party,
Jordan Bardea. He's thirty and many are thinking perhaps Marine
Lapenn should have handed over the reins. But either way,

(03:41):
she says she's determined to carry on. Says a bit
like Nigel Varas, this has been an institutional stitch up
against me.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Okay, how much money is Prince Harry going to have
to pay?

Speaker 2 (03:53):
There's all sorts of reports about how much the court
case that he has just completed is going to cost him.
But he is one of a number of high profile
stars that brought a case against Male Daily Mail newspaper,
The Mail on Sunday newspapers, saying that effectively he had

(04:15):
been subject to stories that were used or constructed out
of unlawfully gathered information now read into that phone hacking.
But Prince Harry has been rejected in this appeal and
he has said it was all an authority stitch up basically,
and it was an inevitable result. Well, it's been a

(04:38):
very expensive inevitable result for him and other stars like
Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley, the actress and Baroness Dorren
Lawrence whose son was murdered and I have to tell
you the newspapers over here pretty much cocker hoop with
some big headlines about how they had tried to break
the newspaper and ruin the newspaper, but how effectively they

(05:01):
had managed to avoid that. It was a four hundred
and thirty six page judgment in which the judge said
that they had failed to prove the allegations of unlawful
information gathering and having suspicions and having rumors and having
thoughts that that was the cause is not good enough
in a court of law. And while it was understandable,
they had to prove the information was obtained unlawfully. So

(05:26):
the Daily Mail mail on Sunday is you can imagine
cocker hoop with that there Daily Mail headline this morning
there was nothing less than a conspiracy to destroy the
Daily Mail, and the Sun says, huge victory for free press.
As Prince Harry suffers crushing high conditeople. It will be
we think in the tens of millions.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, they will not let it go. Gvin. Thanks very much,
Devin Gray, UK correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
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