Braverman defends Farage over £5m donation as Badenoch criticises 'out of touch' Reform leader

Suella Braverman has defended Nigel Farage's decision not to declare the £5m donation that he received from Christopher Harborne, saying the gift was a "private" matter.

The former Conservative home secretary, now Reform UK's education spokesperson, told Sky News the donation did not need to be declared because of security concerns. "There's a very big distinction between what's your public duty, your public role, and your private," she said. "And before he was an MP for many years, Nigel Farage has carried a high risk to his personal safety. It's entirely reasonable for him to take steps. It's very regrettable, actually, that the state has not stepped in to protect him."

Under the Commons code of conduct, donations do not have to be declared if they "could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the house or to the member's parliamentary or political activities". However, the rules also state: "Both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered."

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised Farage for receiving the £5m gift, telling BBC Radio Merseyside: "Nigel Farage can say as much as he wants that he's the one who's down to earth. Someone just gave him a £5m gift the other day. I don't know what's down to earth about that. Who gets £5m as a gift? If I got £50,000 as a gift, I think people would raise their eyebrows. That's a hundred times that. And he forgot to register it. He forgot that he'd been given £5m. I don't think that's down to earth. So I'm not going to be taking any lessons from Nigel Farage."

The comments come as Labour faces potentially devastating losses in next week's local elections. Labour mayor Kim McGuinness told Times Radio that Keir Starmer could survive losing 2,000 seats but said "the turnaround has to happen". She said there "has to be a real recognition that people do not feel listened to, do not feel understood, [do not feel] like the government is delivering on their priorities, and that has to change".

Elections expert Lord Robert Hayward forecast that Labour could lose 1,850 seats in the English local elections on May 7, with the party potentially suffering the worst losses in modern times for any governing party. A cabinet minister told the Sunday Times that losses "anywhere north of 1,500" would be the "doomsday scenario" which could trigger a cabinet revolt.

The number of households in temporary accommodation in England has fallen slightly for the first time in three years, according to official figures. There were 134,210 households in such accommodation at the end of December, down from 134,700 at the end of September 2025. However, the number of children in temporary accommodation continued to rise, standing at 176,130, up 6% year on year.

In education news, the NAHT headteachers' union said Ofsted's new report cards "actively penalise" schools more inclusive to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Analysis found one in five schools with above average numbers of pupils with SEND were judged "needs attention" in the report card's attendance and behaviour area, compared with one in 10 schools with below average SEND numbers.