Abu Dhabi paid for Nigel Farage to travel to the United Arab Emirates in December to meet senior officials, a move that underscores growing international interest in the populist politician.
The emirate, led by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, gifted the Reform UK leader and a guest accommodation and passes to attend the Formula 1 race-car competition in early December, valued at roughly £10,000, according to the register of MPs’ interests.
At the time, Farage posted on X a picture of himself with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, with the caption: “In the Abu Dhabi paddock for the Formula 1 season-finale.” It was not clear at the time what the pretext was for his visit.
Farage also had “meetings” with senior Emirati officials during the two-day trip that took place before parliament shut down for Christmas, according to the register. The meetings were arranged by Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy, who regularly travels to the Arab nation for business reasons, said people briefed on the matter.
The UAE’s leadership was keen to speak with Reform owing to a shared opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, said people familiar with the matter. Farage has said he would classify the Islamist group as a terrorist organisation in Britain if he won power.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Russia, Syria and Jordan have officially designated the group a terrorist organisation. Sir Keir Starmer’s government has not proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood to date, but said the matter was under “close review” last year.
The donation and meetings underscore growing interest in Farage’s rightwing party, which is leading national opinion polls at about 30 per cent, well ahead of the governing Labour party on 16 per cent.
The F1 is used as an annual networking event, with Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital and seat of power, hosting politicians, executives and stars of sport and entertainment.
But it is uncommon for foreign governments to invite and pay for heads of opposition political parties to meet their leaders, in part because of the diplomatic signal it sends.
Kemi Badenoch has not received any donations to cover expenses for meetings with foreign leaders overseas since becoming Conservative leader and leader of the opposition in November 2024.
In opposition, the Qatari government paid for Starmer, who was opposition leader at the time, to travel to Doha to meet the country’s emir after the COP28 summit in 2023.
The Qatari government paid for Starmer’s travel from Dubai to Doha on a private jet, and Starmer said at the time the pair had discussed the Israel-Hamas war as well as “vital co-operation” between the two nations.
Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at Transparency International, an anti-corruption organisation, said donations of the kind Farage received were “not without precedent”.
But he added overseas governments funding “all expense trips for UK MPs . . . risks the perception and reality that those MPs can be bought”.
“We’ve seen this time and time again — autocracies using their money to curry favour in parliament. It’s high time there’s a ban on the practice,” Goodrich added.
Farage has made critical comments concerning the UAE in the past.
In 2023, he urged then-Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak to ensure his foreign secretary Lord David Cameron played no role in the proposed sale of the Telegraph Media Group to RedBird IMI — a joint venture between US private equity group RedBird and Abu Dhabi state-owned investor IMI — because of Cameron’s ties to Abu Dhabi.
Farage said at the time that it was “unthinkable that a Tory government would consider allowing these assets to fall into the wrong hands on its watch or that it would encourage the importation of attitudes which run counter to one of the cornerstones of our democracy”.
Separately on Wednesday Farage announced Laila Cunningham, a Reform councillor in Westminster, would stand as the party’s candidate for mayor of London in 2027.
“We’re going to fight fully with the intention of winning the London mayoralty,” Farage said. “This once-admired, historic, astonishing, extraordinary place, is now being talked about around the world in increasingly disparaging ways.”
Cunningham, a Muslim and mother of seven, said she “love[d]” London but was “not blind to what it’s become”, arguing crime had risen across the capital.
Fair-Manufacturer854 on
>The UAE’s leadership was keen to speak with Reform owing to a shared opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, said people familiar with the matter. Farage has said he would classify the Islamist group as a terrorist organisation in Britain if he won power.
Fucking scoundrel!
IllustriousKitchen97 on
Is this just like how Tommy Robinson was invited to speak to Qatari officials the other week?
What’s going on over there?
MuddlinThrough on
So a foreign government paid for access to an elected MP?
Is that…. usual? Is that strictly allowed?
LegitimateCompote377 on
The right wing of British politics is full of people bought out and influenced by the UAE and Israel, usually both at the same time. This is nothing new and Farage has long been known to have ties with the country, but it’s interesting how close these two countries have become in recent years.
Eclectika on
If it wasn’t apparent from his fanboi antics in the USA, when a middle eastern country that’s not really strong on universal human rights pays to meet our poster boy for the far reich, it really does flag that he’s a wrong ‘un.
6 commenti
Abu Dhabi paid for Nigel Farage to travel to the United Arab Emirates in December to meet senior officials, a move that underscores growing international interest in the populist politician.
The emirate, led by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, gifted the Reform UK leader and a guest accommodation and passes to attend the Formula 1 race-car competition in early December, valued at roughly £10,000, according to the register of MPs’ interests.
At the time, Farage posted on X a picture of himself with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, with the caption: “In the Abu Dhabi paddock for the Formula 1 season-finale.” It was not clear at the time what the pretext was for his visit.
Farage also had “meetings” with senior Emirati officials during the two-day trip that took place before parliament shut down for Christmas, according to the register. The meetings were arranged by Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy, who regularly travels to the Arab nation for business reasons, said people briefed on the matter.
The UAE’s leadership was keen to speak with Reform owing to a shared opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, said people familiar with the matter. Farage has said he would classify the Islamist group as a terrorist organisation in Britain if he won power.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Russia, Syria and Jordan have officially designated the group a terrorist organisation. Sir Keir Starmer’s government has not proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood to date, but said the matter was under “close review” last year.
The donation and meetings underscore growing interest in Farage’s rightwing party, which is leading national opinion polls at about 30 per cent, well ahead of the governing Labour party on 16 per cent.
The F1 is used as an annual networking event, with Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital and seat of power, hosting politicians, executives and stars of sport and entertainment.
But it is uncommon for foreign governments to invite and pay for heads of opposition political parties to meet their leaders, in part because of the diplomatic signal it sends.
Kemi Badenoch has not received any donations to cover expenses for meetings with foreign leaders overseas since becoming Conservative leader and leader of the opposition in November 2024.
In opposition, the Qatari government paid for Starmer, who was opposition leader at the time, to travel to Doha to meet the country’s emir after the COP28 summit in 2023.
The Qatari government paid for Starmer’s travel from Dubai to Doha on a private jet, and Starmer said at the time the pair had discussed the Israel-Hamas war as well as “vital co-operation” between the two nations.
Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at Transparency International, an anti-corruption organisation, said donations of the kind Farage received were “not without precedent”.
But he added overseas governments funding “all expense trips for UK MPs . . . risks the perception and reality that those MPs can be bought”.
“We’ve seen this time and time again — autocracies using their money to curry favour in parliament. It’s high time there’s a ban on the practice,” Goodrich added.
Farage has made critical comments concerning the UAE in the past.
In 2023, he urged then-Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak to ensure his foreign secretary Lord David Cameron played no role in the proposed sale of the Telegraph Media Group to RedBird IMI — a joint venture between US private equity group RedBird and Abu Dhabi state-owned investor IMI — because of Cameron’s ties to Abu Dhabi.
Farage said at the time that it was “unthinkable that a Tory government would consider allowing these assets to fall into the wrong hands on its watch or that it would encourage the importation of attitudes which run counter to one of the cornerstones of our democracy”.
Separately on Wednesday Farage announced Laila Cunningham, a Reform councillor in Westminster, would stand as the party’s candidate for mayor of London in 2027.
“We’re going to fight fully with the intention of winning the London mayoralty,” Farage said. “This once-admired, historic, astonishing, extraordinary place, is now being talked about around the world in increasingly disparaging ways.”
Cunningham, a Muslim and mother of seven, said she “love[d]” London but was “not blind to what it’s become”, arguing crime had risen across the capital.
>The UAE’s leadership was keen to speak with Reform owing to a shared opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, said people familiar with the matter. Farage has said he would classify the Islamist group as a terrorist organisation in Britain if he won power.
Fucking scoundrel!
Is this just like how Tommy Robinson was invited to speak to Qatari officials the other week?
What’s going on over there?
So a foreign government paid for access to an elected MP?
Is that…. usual? Is that strictly allowed?
The right wing of British politics is full of people bought out and influenced by the UAE and Israel, usually both at the same time. This is nothing new and Farage has long been known to have ties with the country, but it’s interesting how close these two countries have become in recent years.
If it wasn’t apparent from his fanboi antics in the USA, when a middle eastern country that’s not really strong on universal human rights pays to meet our poster boy for the far reich, it really does flag that he’s a wrong ‘un.