The Gambling Commission has been urged to investigate claims that companies linked to Reform UK donors and allies of Nigel Farage have been operating without a licence.
The Labour party’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, has written to the watchdog asking it to look into Tether.bet, a Montenegro-based gambling company, and Fispay, a UK company owned by Reform’s data protection officer, Mowbray Jackson.
It comes after the Sunday Times reported that both companies had been operating without a licence. Crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne’s £5m gift to Farage is already under scrutiny by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.
George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster and long-term ally of Farage, is linked to Tether.bet, which issued a closure notice on its website on 12 August.
It is against the law to provide gambling facilities without a licence in the UK under the Gambling Act 2005.
Jackson told the Sunday Times his company “exclusively” brokered private jet travel and it had never provided facilities for gambling, while Cottrell said he was a customer of Tether.bet and he has “never solicited clients for any betting company”.
In her letter, Phillipson wrote: “In light of these allegations, I would urge the commission to investigate:
Whether Tether.bet, and its operators, provided or advertised remote gambling facilities to consumers in UK without the required licence
Whether Fispay Ltd, or any other UK company, provided or supported gambling facilities or services to consumers in the UK without the required licence.”
Phillipson, also an equalities minister, added: “These are the latest allegations in a mountain of unanswered questions concerning Reform’s donors and finances.
“Nigel Farage cannot dodge them for ever. He needs to stop making excuses and come clean with the public.”
The Sunday Times published an investigation into links between Reform funders and Tether.bet.
The newspaper said Cottrell was a high-profile customer of the website, and Harborne owned a company, IFX, that processed payments on behalf of another company that took deposits and returned winnings.
Cottrell’s lawyers told the newspaper his relationship with Tether.bet “has been limited to that of a customer, in addition to which, he knows and is friends with the owner”.
When contacted by the Guardian, Cottrell’s lawyers said he was one of the world’s best-known professional gamblers. “It is therefore hardly surprising that [others] may seek to associate themselves with him in an attempt to lend credibility to their businesses or generate publicity. Mr Cottrell has never invested in, owned or operated any betting company or casino. He has never solicited clients for any betting company or casino. Any suggestion that he was involved in unlawful gambling activity is wholly false.”
Harborne and IFX’s representatives told the Sunday Times he had never had any role in the running and operations of IFX and that it “operates in accordance with applicable regulations and legislation across the markets it supports”.
Farage may have hoped to draw a line with his victory in the Clacton byelection as he returned with an increased majority and gained more votes than in 2024.
But parliament’s standards commissioner immediately reopened an investigation into whether he should have declared a series of gifts provided to him shortly before the last general election.
These include the £5m personal gift from Harborne, first revealed by the Guardian, and further financial support from his friend Cottrell.
New MPs have to register any gifts worth more than £300 that they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
While playing down the inquiry last week, Farage also appeared to acknowledge the watchdog could well find against him over his failure to be transparent. If a separate standards committee of MPs recommend a sanction of more than 10 days of suspension from parliament, it could then trigger a second byelection.
