Nigel Farage: Name of Brexit Party's biggest donor 'irrelevant'

Nigel Farage has refused to reveal the name of the person who has given £100,000 to his new Brexit Party.

Speaking on Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the leader said it was "irrelevant" who the biggest donor was and his or her identity would be declared at the end of July, after this month's European Parliament elections.

Mr Farage claimed if he revealed the name now the person would be "hounded" by the media in the lead-up the vote. The party does not list its donors on its website.

And he also questioned: "Who is funding Change UK?"

But Change UK, which is made up of former Labour and Conservative MPs and is also known as the Independent Group, has listed on its website the names of the people who have donated £7,500 or more each to the party.

In a sarcastic response to Ridge's question about who the major Brexit Party donor was, Mr Farage said: "Oh yes, I'm really going to tell you his name."

"Well why not?" Ridge hit back. "This is the new transparent politics."

"We'll be declaring it, at the end of July," said Mr Farage.

Ridge replied: "So why don't you just tell me then?"

"I don't see why, why one individual - I tell you what, if everybody else will, that's fine," claimed Mr Farage.

He added: "Anyway, it's irrelevant, it's a small donation of £100,000," pointing out the party has raised "nearly £2m" in £25 donations through swelling membership numbers.

He said: "We just yesterday hit 85,000 registered supporters, all paying £25. Work it out.

"We have raised getting on for £2m through individual people joining through our website. I can't think that any other party in the UK has raised money like that."

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The former UKIP leader has challenged Jeremy Corbyn to a debate ahead of the EU elections, warning a deal between Labour and the Conservatives would be "the final betrayal".

He challenged the Labour leader to discuss Brexit with him, saying: "There are five million voters out there, Labour voters, who voted to leave, particularly in the Midlands, the north, and south Wales.

"I would love between now and polling to have a debate with Jeremy Corbyn about this because people are very confused about what Labour are standing for."

Mr Farage added: "I think if we can dig into the Labour vote, we can surprise even ourselves."

He said he had given 26 years of his life to UKIP, but the party is now "past its sell-by date", adding: "It's done, it's gone."