Arron Banks hired private investigators to probe Conservative party chair
Reform UK backer Arron Banks appeared to confirm he commissioned private investigators to look into Conservative party chair Kevin Hollinrake after Hollinrake pressed for scrutiny of Nigel Farage's finances. It follows earlier revelations that Banks had also targeted a journalist.
Businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks appeared to confirm on Sunday that he had commissioned a private intelligence firm to investigate Conservative party chair Kevin Hollinrake. The Mail on Sunday first reported that Banks used Precision Risk and Intelligence, a firm he previously owned, to look into Hollinrake.
As party chair, Hollinrake has led the Conservatives' response to revelations about Nigel Farage's finances, including questions over a £5m undeclared gift Farage received from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne before the last election.
Hollinrake addressed Banks directly on social media, saying that after Conservatives called for scrutiny of Reform UK's finances, a close associate of Farage reportedly hired investigators to look into him and journalists covering the same story. Banks replied evasively, saying he had come across people who like to criticise others but cannot take it themselves. Pressed on whether Reform UK knew about the surveillance, Banks suggested he had acted alone.
The development follows earlier reporting by the New Statesman that Banks had commissioned the same firm to investigate Gabriel Pogrund, investigations editor at the Sunday Times, raising fears that other journalists covering Reform and Farage's funding, including at the Guardian, could also have been targeted.
The News Media Association described the use of investigators against journalists as an attack on democracy and called on ministers to do more to protect independent journalism. Banks had previously suggested the Sunday Times used hacked information, a claim the paper rejected.
Over the weekend, the Sunday Times published a further investigation into links between Reform funders and Tether.bet, a gambling website accused of illegally operating in the UK that closed this week. The report named convicted fraudster George Cottrell and Harborne in connection with the site, though representatives for both denied any unlawful involvement. A Labour spokesperson said questions over Farage's finances and judgment kept growing.
