Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader who recently resigned as Clacton's MP to fight for his right to become MP for Clacton, has released CCTV footage showing a journalist on his daughter's driveway. He accused Sky News of harassing his family and lying about it.
Farage's Anger and Accusations
Farage posted the footage on X, stating: 'Several media organisations have been hounding my daughter. When I approached the boss of Sky News and complained, they denied any contact — and so did their news report. Sky News are liars. I demand an apology from them and a promise not to repeat it.'
In the video, a blurred person walks up a driveway before stopping and speaking to someone in a black car pulling in. It cuts to a man in a t-shirt knocking at the door and speaking briefly with the occupant before walking away.
Farage said: 'For some reason, last week the editor of the Times newspaper decided to publish a picture of where my daughter lives. There is no public interest in my daughter whatsoever. She is not involved in current affairs, doesn't seek to be involved in current affairs, and has never been used by me once at any point in my political career. No photographs on election addresses or anything like that, I've always done my absolute best to protect the privacy and safety of my family. By publishing that photograph, the editor of The Times has directly threatened her security… She now has broadcasters haranguing her. Sky News were one of them, and when I questioned them on it, they willfully and deliberately lied and said on their channel that they hadn't contacted the family.'
Sky News Response
Sky News responded, saying it had made 'reasonable efforts' to contact Farage with 'legitimate questions to answer' after reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided undeclared funding for security and staffing in the year before Farage was elected as MP for Clacton. The broadcaster stated: 'Nigel Farage has legitimate questions to answer about the gift he accepted from Mr Cottrell. Given the clear public interest in this matter, Sky News has been seeking a response from Mr Farage and has made reasonable efforts to contact him. We acknowledge that Sky News was part of a broadcast pool operation outside a property linked to Mr Farage yesterday. We approached the property off-camera on a single occasion, identified ourselves, and the occupant chose not to engage.'
Impact and Context
Farage declared: 'I will not tolerate intimidation of my family. I will not tolerate the location of where they live being revealed. I will not tolerate any of my family being endangered because of what I choose to do in public life, so yes, you can ask, am I angry? Well, I've never been angrier in my life.' The incident comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Farage's finances and his recent political maneuvers, including his resignation as MP for Clacton.
