Asked if he knew whether or not money donated by Fiona Cottrell had come from her son George, Farage said he was not “involved in the transactions”.
However, he added that he “had been told it’s her money”. Reform has insisted it has always complied with donations rules.
He added: “The point is, we live in a complainants’ society. If you complain about me, automatically that triggers an investigation.”
He said that political parties were “constantly writing to all the authorities”, meaning Reform was “under investigation every day for virtually everything we do”.
“There’s a big picture here. The old two-party system that has dominated since the end of the First World War feels for the first time it faces an existential threat.
“There is a whole ecosystem with a century of development around this. And we come along from virtually nowhere and threaten the whole thing.
“So I think what you’re seeing is the establishment, in a very co-ordinated way, fighting back.”
Pressed on what he meant, he added: “I’m talking about normal human behaviour.
“People who hold positions of power, influence and money don’t want new kids on the block succeeding. It’s the whole ecosystem, it’s everything.”
Farage said he expected it “won’t be too long” before he is interviewed by Parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg as part of his probe into whether he should have publicly declared the £5m he received from Harborne.
He continued to insist the sum, which he says was a personal gift, did not require registration under Commons rules.
He added he had “no questions” about Greenberg’s impartiality, but hit out at the “political composition” of the standards committee that will recommend what action should be taken on his findings.
The 14-member panel includes seven MPs from Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, but none from Reform UK.
He added: “Have you seen who’s on the committee? I think we know the outcome already. I’m not going to say anything more than that.”
“To be judged by members of Parliament by other political parties who you’re fighting against in by-elections or general elections, I think that raises a question, I really do,” he added.
