Nigel Farage missed the parliamentary debate on the most important reset to Brexit because the referendum as a result of he’s abroad on vacation, the Reform UK chief has mentioned.
Following hypothesis that he was on vacation in France, Farage, who has not been seen within the Commons this week and didn’t current his GB Information present on Monday, launched an announcement confirming he was away.
“There appears to be nice consternation within the press that they haven’t seen me for 48 hours. Properly, they must wait a while,” he wrote.
“After months of touring the UK within the run-up to our vastly profitable native election marketing campaign I’ll resume travelling the nation subsequent week as Reform strikes to the subsequent stage.
“In the meantime I’m having my first abroad break for 3 years, the jungle excepted. Properly I say break … loads of articles and fundraising calls!”
In 2023 Farage went to the jungle in Australia to take part within the ITV actuality TV present I’m a Superstar … Get Me Out of Right here! Since turning into the MP for Clacton final 12 months, Farage has taken plenty of abroad journeys which weren’t completely for parliamentary work.
He has made at least 9 journeys overseas, together with eight to the US, since final 12 months’s common election, with a lot of them both funded by donors or undertaken for paid employment corresponding to speeches.
These included a go to to the US in assist of Donald Trump in August final 12 months the place flights and lodging for Farage and one staffer value almost £33,000, and a £27,000 journey to attend Trump’s inauguration in January this 12 months.
His vacation takes place whereas the Commons is sitting, although the chamber goes into recess from Thursday, and doesn’t sit all of subsequent week.
On Tuesday, MPs debated an announcement from Keir Starmer on the UK’s negotiations with the EU on a series of Brexit-related changes to frame checks, fishing and defence.
Farage used X to name this “a give up settlement”, however his deputy, Richard Tice, spoke within the Commons for the occasion.
A Guardian evaluation in March found that by that time, Farage had spent greater than 800 hours on exterior employment since being elected as an MP.
