STORY
David Coburn, the former UKIP MEP for Scotland, has firmly denied circulating online allegations suggesting he has undisclosed links to Russia, calling them “nonsense” and “the sort of rumour invented by people with too much free time and too little critical thinking”. Coburn issued a statement insisting he has “no connections, financial or otherwise, to any Russian political or commercial interests”.
Coburn said he was “irritated but not surprised” by the attention, adding that his years in European politics had made him “quite immune to internet theatrics”. He stressed that he has never engaged with Russian state actors and dismissed suggestions of improper influence as “purely imaginative and entirely wrong”.
The situation has drawn renewed attention to figures associated with the Brexit-era UKIP scene, including Nigel Farage, who once counted Coburn among his closest political allies. Although Farage is not directly involved in the claims, critics say the reappearance of disputes around former party colleagues does little to bolster confidence in his judgement of character.