Nigel Farage’s Platform for Big Tobacco, Climate Denial and Crypto Firms

Whose money a political party takes can reveal a lot about which interests it is likely to serve. Here are some of the organisations that bankrolled Reform UK’s Conference. Olly Haynes reports

Big Tobacco

A self-described “chain smoker”, Nigel Farage once branded cigarette lovers the “heroes of the nation” for how much tax is paid on the items. His support appears to have been rewarded at the conference with sponsorships of fringe events.

One panel, titled ‘Revitalising the Great British High Street – How to Reverse Decades of Decline’, was sponsored by the neoliberal think tank the Adam Smith Institute and Japan Tobacco – one of the three largest tobacco firms in the world, which also owns shares in various vape companies.

Another firm at the conference was Forest Online, hosting a panel called ‘The Politics of Prohibition: The Fight for Choice’. Forest describes itself as a “voice and friend of the smoker” and lobbies against the regulation of smoking.