Standards watchdog investigating Reform UK’s Richard Tice

Britain’s ⁠parliamentary ⁠standards watchdog is ​investigating ⁠Reform UK’s ⁠deputy ​leader, ‌Richard ‌Tice, over ‌a possible failure to declare ‌an interest, ​the commissioner said ⁠on ​its website ​on ​Monday.

The watchdog did not provide details of the allegation under investigation, aside from ⁠saying it was opened on 28 July and will be conducted by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel ⁠Greenberg.

An inquiry does not mean that rules have definitely ​been broken. Reform did ‌not immediately respond ‌to a request for comment.

Tice said the parliamentary investigation related to a complaint over “whether I should have referenced my register of interests at the start of a debate on UK democracy and Israeli influence”.

Without naming the group he was referring to, he wrote on X: “Contrary to garbage in media: Standards Commissioner is considering complaint by anti semitic anti Israel lobby group over whether I should have referenced my register of interests at start of a debate on UK democracy and Israeli influence.

“The same anti Israel group failed to notify Commissioner that Ayoub Khan MP did not declare his substantial donation received from a pro Palestine group. Funny that …”

The watchdog had previously been investigating the populist party’s leader, Nigel Farage, over a £5m donation he received from a ‌cryptocurrency billionaire, but that inquiry was paused after Farage resigned his parliamentary seat in July.

British police ​are investigating at least £500,000 in donations to Reform, which Tice has said is part of a “politically motivated smear campaign”.

When he quit in July, Farage said the ⁠establishment was bent on discrediting him over accusations about his ​finances.

Reform ​had been leading in ​the polls for over a year until last ​week, when ‌the governing ​Labour party ​caught up with it and in some cases overtook it, according to different surveys, reflecting a bounce for the new prime minister, Andy Burnham.