Farage breaks cover at last but finds the £5m question hasn’t gone away | John Crace

A testy Reform UK leader tried to bat off questions about why a gigantic gift to him had anything to do with the public

Happy days. Ten glorious years. Maybe it was the chance to bask in the unmitigated triumphs of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Maybe he wanted to take advantage of a rare lacuna. The vacuum between the last rites of the Keir Starmer government and the handover to Andy Burnham. The man from Makerfield who had only a few days ago been in such a hurry now finds he needs more time to get his ducks in a row. Or maybe it was just the hope that amnesia had set in. That it was safe to come out. Whatever it was, Nigel Farage chose to break cover.

For more than eight weeks now the Reform leader has been a virtual recluse. From having to meet his cravings for an instant fix with two or three press conferences a week, Nige has refused to do any media. He has been in hiding. Only seen out with a few friendly faces. Posting videos of himself alone in a field where reporters can’t find him. Any suggestions that this has anything to do with the £5m gift, or whatever you want to call it, are obviously hopelessly wide of the mark. Nige just wants to be alone. To take a Garbo moment. Some me-time with the person he loves most in the world.

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