STORY
Arron Banks, the businessman and prominent Reform UK member, is reported to have hired private investigators to examine Sunday Times journalist Gabriel Pogrund following reporting about Nigel Farage’s finances. Pogrund, who edits the newspaper’s Insight investigations team, had worked on stories concerning financial support received by Farage before he was elected as MP for Clacton.
The investigation into Pogrund was reportedly carried out by Precision Risk and Intelligence, a company previously owned by Banks. When asked whether he had paid investigators to look into the journalist, Banks did not deny the claim and said: “When you live by the sword, you die by the sword.” Banks also alleged that the Sunday Times had used hacked information in its reporting, something the newspaper strongly denied.
The Sunday Times described the reported surveillance of its journalist as “reprehensible” and said its reporting had been based on responsible journalism rather than hacked material. Banks subsequently told the Guardian that he had not spoken to anyone at Reform UK about the matter. Pogrund’s previous reporting had included details of support Farage received from former Ukip aide George Cottrell, while wider questions over Reform UK finances are currently being examined by the Metropolitan Police. No arrests have been made in that investigation.