Reform MP refuses to back calls for Farage to share Russian hack evidence

Senior Reform UK figure Danny Kruger declined to say whether Nigel Farage should hand evidence of an alleged Russian hack to security services. Farage faces pressure to substantiate claims linking a state-sponsored hack to The Guardian UK's report of a £5m gift.

Kruger calls Russian hack claim 'private' as pressure mounts on Farage

A senior Reform UK figure has declined to call on party leader Nigel Farage to hand evidence of an alleged Russian hack to the UK's security services, saying the matter is "private".

As The Guardian UK reported last month, Farage received an undisclosed £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage has since claimed the story reached the newspaper via a state-sponsored Russian hack of his communications — a claim that has drawn sustained pressure from Labour and the Conservatives, both of whom have highlighted the national security threat posed by the Russian state.

On Monday, Reform's lead on preparing for government, Danny Kruger, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was not across the full details of the hacking allegation. Asked whether Farage had reported his concerns to the authorities, Kruger said: "I don't know … I'm not privy to that conversation and I don't feel I can comment."

When pressed on whether Farage should report any evidence he held, Kruger replied: "I really am not the person to discuss the ins and outs of what's being done in terms of the investigation."

Kruger characterised the issue as personal, adding: "There does need to be some kind of investigation into that. I'm not sure how he would want to do it. The whole point of this is that it's a private matter."

A Reform source quoted by the Mail on Sunday said Farage had privately commissioned "counter-espionage experts" to examine his phone, and that they had concluded it had almost certainly been compromised by Russian agents. No evidence was provided publicly, and the experts were not named.

Farage's spokesperson has not responded to questions from The Guardian UK about whom the alleged hack was reported to, whether any evidence was passed to the authorities, or what the analysis of his phone involved.

A Guardian spokesperson said Farage's claim amounted to "an attempt to deflect attention from legitimate scrutiny of his financial affairs", adding: "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 called it "absurd" to suggest The Guardian UK had obtained details of the gift through a Russian hack.

Kruger also addressed scrutiny of Reform's candidate in the Makerfield by-election, Robert Kenyon. The party has sought to present Kenyon, a plumber and army reservist, as a local figure taking on a career politician who is using the seat for personal advancement.

Archived records show Kenyon made lewd comments about female public figures, expressed doubt about vaccine efficacy, and interacted with far-right accounts on a now-deleted social media profile.

Asked whether Kenyon was the kind of person Reform believed should represent the British public, Kruger argued that many people post on social media as though they are in a private setting. "I'm not going to judge people" for comments made there, he said. "Clearly, that's not the sort of thing you would want an elected politician to [say]. Quite rightly, clearly, he's deleted that post and regrets it."

Source: The Guardian UK