Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
GET A GRIP Profile picture
@docrussjackson
Jun 4 • 15 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
#THREAD

Rumour has it, the character leading Nigel Farage away is George Cottrell, an interesting chap, who may give some insight into Farage's 'anti-elite' Reform UK team.

(Btw, I don't agree with chucking drinks over anyone).

So who is George Cottrell?
The former head of fundraising for UKIP, Cottrell was born to an aristocratic family.

His dad, a businessman & landowner from Gloucestershire, attended Gordonstoun School with Prince Andrew.

Remember: Reform UK self-identity as an 'anti-elite' party.

Cottrell's mum, The Honourable Fiona Watson, daughter of Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton, is a former gf of King Charles!

I accept no-one chooses their parents, but opportunities for the privately educated like Cottrell, Tice, Farage & Habib are greater than for ordinary folk. Image
Cottrell's maternal uncle, Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh, was the Govt Chief Whip in the House of Lords & served as Treasurer of the Conservative Party, later defecting to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 2011.

It's a family affair!

bbc.co.uk/news/business-…
Cottrell was raised and educated on the private island of Mustique before attending independent boarding school Malvern College (current fees around £15,000/term), from which he was expelled for illegal gambling.

SPOILER ALERT:

telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-m…
Cottrell was listed as a director in a number of businesses from a young age, both in the UK and overseas.

Starting in 2013, Cottrell assumed a number of roles at banks, including Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA). Image
Following #GE2015, Cottrell was appointed deputy treasurer of UKIP. While head of fundraising for UKIP, Cottrell became the chief of staff to then UKIP leader, Farage.

When Farage resigned as leader of UKIP, Cottrell continued to run his private office.

thedailybeast.com/meet-posh-geor…
On 22 July 2016, while attending the Republican National Convention with Farage, Cottrell was arrested by IRS Criminal Investigation special agents at Chicago O'Hare International. 😬

independent.co.uk/news/nigel-far…
Cottrell was federally indicted on 21 counts for conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail, & extortion.

Denied bail by a judge who branded him a "serious flight risk," he was detained in custody in Chicago.

eu.azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
Cottrell's indictment states how in 2014, he met with undercover federal agents in Las Vegas, where he conspired to launder millions of dollars worth of drug money using offshore bank accounts.

Reform UK also self-identifies as a 'law & order' Party. Image
However, following a plea agreement in December 2016, prosecutors agreed to dismiss 20 counts in return for a guilty plea to a single count of wire fraud in which Cottrell admitted to explaining various ways criminal proceeds could be laundered.

LAW & ORDER! Image
In March 2017, Cottrell was sentenced and released by Judge Diane Humetewa, having served eight months in prison. theguardian.com/politics/2017/…
Two weeks ago, rumour had it that the aristocratic banker - an ex-boyfriend of I'm A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo - was believed to have lost a staggering £16 MILLION in a private high-stakes poker game in Montenegro. 🤑

Reform UK: the billionaire-funded anti-elite party! Image
Nigel Farage's 'anti-elite' anti-Net Zero Reform UK Party has been bankrolled by fossil fuel oil & gas investors, aviation entrepreneurs, polluters & those who reject climate science to the tune of £2.3 MILLION since #GE2019.

desmog.com/2024/06/04/nig…
And as revealed by @DeSmog in October 2023, the hedge-fund of "anti-elite" Farage's boss - co-owner of GB "News" Paul Marshall - holds $2.2 BILLION worth of shares in fossil fuel companies. 'Anti-elite' man of the people my arse.

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with GET A GRIP

GET A GRIP Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @docrussjackson

GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jun 3
#THREAD

Given Kemi Badenoch's well-documented history of gaslighting, performative cruelty, divisive rhetoric & questionable judgement - which includes the time she told the Covid Inquiry 'there's no cure for poverty' - here's a short thread of some of her 'best bits'... 😬 Image
That time an irritated & condescending Kemi Badenoch told the Covid Inquiry that "we don't have a cure for poverty".

That time Kemi Badenoch was asked how she felt when she first heard about Tory donor Frank Hester saying looking at Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all Black women” & she “should be shot”, & replied: 'It didn't make me feel anything in particular'.

Read 20 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jun 2
#THREAD

Most people are aware of influential 78-year-old British-Belizean billionaire 'Lord' Michael Ashcroft - but how much do people know about him, his multiple controversies, & his relentless interference in, & subversion of, Britain's democracy?

A few highlights...
Ashcroft's dad Eric was a British colonial civil servant; Ashcroft spent some of his early years in British Honduras (now Belize) and Malawi.

Following a period in Belize after completing his education, in 1967, Ashcroft joined Carreras Tobacco as a management trainee.
He left Carreras in 1969, joining Pritchard Services Group, a cleaning and business services company, after several months unemployed.

In 1972, at the age of 26, he started his own business, Michael A. Ashcroft Associates, which he used to launch several profitable acquisitions.
Read 69 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
May 30
#THREAD

In a chilling echo of 1930s Germany, a quarter of all political donations in the EU went to extremist & populist parties.

What's this got to do with Nigel Farage, Tory MPs & other figures on the UK far-right?

Who funds the far-right, & why?

theguardian.com/world/article/…
In France, donations to the small nationalist group, Reconquête, backed by Marine Le Pen’s niece & founded in 2021 by *far-right TV & radio personality* Éric Zemmour, totalled £4.7m in 2022 - raising more than President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party.

theguardian.com/world/article/…
Zemmour first visited the UK in 2021. In January 2024 he came again & met with Kwasi Kwarteng, Nadhim Zahawi, & *far-right TV & radio personality*, Nigel Farage. In 2022 he was charged with hate speech for saying on TV that child migrants were “thieves, killers, they’re rapists.” Image
Read 23 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
May 29
#THREAD

If divisive, hateful, unelected far-right extremist GB "News" presenter Nigel Farage appears on this week's @bbcquestiontime (36th time this century), it will be the final nail in the coffin of the @BBC's credibility as an "impartial" "public service" broadcaster.
#bbcqt
Image
Like all sensible people, I want the @BBC to STOP platforming a highly disproportionate amount of unelected partisan billionaire-funded right-wing propagandists, & instead platform more of our tens of thousands of actual experts. 🇬🇧

#bbcqt @CommonsCMS

My open letter to the @BBC now has well over a quarter of a million reads in over 144 countries. @BBCPolitics is controlled by extremists, who disproportionately platform billionaire-employed propagandists from #TuftonSt & the right-wing news media.
#bbcqt
Read 14 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
May 25
#THREAD

Recent changes in election spending limits, combined with weakened checks & balances, means that more than ever, money is subverting British democracy.

Right-wing parties like Reform UK & the @Conservatives already have the support of the billionaire-owned 'news' media.
Unlike virtually all the billionaire-owned UK newspapers (including the i, Metro, Mail, Times, Sun, & Telegraph) and the billionaire-owned broadcast 'news' media (GB "News" TalkTV/Radio), @BylineTimes has at least tried to inform voters of these changes.

bylinetimes.com/2023/11/22/rev…
More money will be spent on #GE2024 than on any other election in UK history. The concentration of news media ownership in the hands of a handful of selfish billionaires, combined with the grotesque amount of money donated to the two main parties, undermines democracy.
#Leveson2 Image
Read 16 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
May 24
#THREAD

Graham King, an Essex businessman who has accumulated a £750 million fortune, partly through taxpayer-funded government contracts, has entered the Sunday Times Filthy Rich List.

Associate Prof, Melanie Griffiths, explains why this is a problem.

theconversation.com/asylum-housing…
King’s business empire includes Clearsprings Ready Homes, which has provided asylum accommodation to the Home Office since 2000, & currently receives £3.5M/day for asylum housing & transportation, even though it's often accused of providing substandard & unsafe accommodation. Image
The Guardian reported in 2019 that hundreds of asylum seekers were crammed into Clearsprings accommodation which was overrun by cockroaches, rats and mice.

Lawyers described the sites as “depraved” and likely unfit for human habitation.

theguardian.com/world/2019/aug…
Read 25 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(