Nigel Farage’s two-day trip to Davos cost more than £50,000, documents reveal
Nigel Farage’s two-day trip to Davos cost more than £50,000 after he was given two guest passes by an Iranian-born billionaire, documents show,The Reform UK leader officially declared his attendance at the conference on the register of MPs’ interests, after giving speeches at the Switzerland summit in which he pledged to “put the global elites on notice”,Despite previously having dismissed the World Economic Forum as a jaunt for “globalists”, Farage also accepted £1,100 of luxury hotel accommodation from the conference organisers,The Guardian revealed last month that Farage had his trip to Davos paid for by Sasan Ghandehari, which the Reform UK leader refused to confirm at the time,He was registered at the forum under the banner of HP Trust, which is the family office of Ghandehari and describes itself as having a portfolio value in excess of $10bn (£7.
4bn).HP Trust said Farage was an honorary and unpaid adviser since about 2018, but the Reform UK leader disputes that he has ever worked for them and declared no role for the firm on the register.Since Farage’s funding from Ghandehari emerged, questions have been mounting for Reform about a £200,000 donation from a design firm, Interior Architecture Landscape, which counts the Ghandeharis as a major client.The firm is officially owned by a John Richard Simpson, a conveyancer from Potters Bar, and the company insists that the Ghandeharis had no influence on the donation being made.In response to questions about the £200,000 donation, an Interior Architecture Landscape spokesperson said: “We confirm that the company has, in aggregate, approximately £15m in active contracts, including maintenance, refurbishment, and fit-out works, in relation to several properties across the United Kingdom.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject you can contact the Guardian's UK Politics team confidentially using the following methods:The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu.
Scroll down and click on Secure Messaging.When asked who you wish to contact please select the Politics (UK) team.For end-to-end encrypted email correspondence you can create a free Proton Mail account and email us at guardian.politics.desk@protonmail.
com,You can message the UK Politics team using Signal or WhatsApp on +44 7824 537227,Finally, our guide at theguardian,com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each,“We further confirm that members of the Ghandehari family are clients of the company.
We can also confirm that all members of the company’s management, its decision-makers and its clients are British citizens, and that the company conducts legitimate business activities within the United Kingdom,Accordingly, any political donations made by the company are fully compliant with applicable electoral law,“Separately, the company’s management made a commercial and values-based decision to donate to Reform UK, reflecting the company’s view that Reform UK is seeking to improve the sectors in which the company operates,”Little is known about Ghandehari, but his family is believed to derive its wealth from his late mother, Hourieh Peramaa, who has previously been described as a Kazakh-born Iranian investor who was a refugee before making billions through property,She first appeared in the UK about 2008 when she bought one of the most expensive properties in London for £50m.
The Ghandeharis are now known as art collectors, and he is the representative of a firm suing Christie’s auction house over the provenance of a Picasso painting previously owned by someone convicted of a drugs offence,During his trip to Davos, Farage appeared at several events and said he would tax banks,He was also interviewed by Rebel News, a Canadian media outlet that platforms far-right contributors, whose reporter questioned Farage on whether he regretted comments about the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, who has threatened to sue him for wrongly saying his criminal conviction was in relation to violence against a woman,Farage said he was “sorry if he got it slightly wrong” about Robinson’s conviction and added: “I don’t wish to have a fight with him,He does what he does, I do what I do.
There we go,”
New York City’s real animal welfare crisis isn’t the Westminster Dog Show | Lauren Caulk
Every February, the Westminster Dog Show arrives in New York City trailing equal parts pageantry, nostalgia and protest. The dogs come to be judged. The owners and handlers come to uphold breed standards. And, almost as reliably as the movie references and the best-in-show ribbon, Peta arrives ready to dominate the conversation.If there is one certainty about the Super Bowl of canines, it’s that the protest will share the stage with the pageantry
Team GB’s best chance of Winter Olympics gold dealt major blow after helmets ban
Great Britain’s best hopes of gold at these Winter Olympics have suffered a setback after skeleton’s governing body banned its new aerodynamic helmets for being the wrong shape.Team GB’s Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt have dominated skeleton all season, winning all seven of the World Cup races between them, and are strong favourites to win gold and silver in Milan.However, they were hoping to increase their chances of glory even further in Milano Cortina with a new helmet. Yet having trialled it in San Moritz last week, it has now emerged that the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation quickly banned the helmets on 29 January, saying they “did not comply with the IBSF skeleton rules based on its shape”.Team GB have now appealed the decision to the court of arbitration for sport, arguing the design and manufacture of the helmet meets rigorous safety standards
Skinning, boot-packing and downhill skiing: welcome to skimo at the Winter Olympics
No one could suggest that the Winter Olympics are lacking in challenge. Skiers zipping down the slopes and flying through the air. Skeletons hurtling around at more than 100km/h. Ice skaters, metal-bladed, spinning, leaping and twisting. Slopestyle athletes pulling off the most outrageous tricks while landing the biggest air
Doberman named Penny takes Westminster’s best in show as Catherine O’Hara honored
Penny the Doberman pinscher named America’s top dog Linton lands second best in show nearly four decades onWestminster honors Catherine O’Hara with video tributeA Doberman pinscher named Penny is America’s top canine after earning the title of best in show on Tuesday night at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York.Judge David Fitzpatrick tapped the four-year-old female with the mirror-sheen black-and-rust coat from Reseda, California, over a field of six other group champions, among them a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Cota, who was awarded reserve best in show to roars of approval from the crowd. Also making the final lineup were an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa Apso named JJ, a Maltese named Cookie, a smooth fox terrier named Wager and a popular old English sheepdog named Graham.The victory gave veteran handler Andy Linton another Westminster crown nearly four decades after he last won best in show in 1989 with Indy, also a Doberman. For Linton, who has spoken publicly about living with Parkinson’s disease and has indicated he is nearing the end of his career, the moment carried additional weight
Winter Olympics results from Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again be drawn to Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines.Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport, while Team GB hope that Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson grasp their opportunity to win Britain’s first figure skating medal since Jayyne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994
Winter Olympics: full schedule for Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again be drawn to Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines.Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport, while Team GB hope that Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson grasp their opportunity to win Britain’s first figure skating medal since Jayyne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994
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