Nigel Farage has renewed public profile at head of new Brexit party – but in 2016 German documents and witness confirmed passport application just one day after UK’s EU referendum result – and he has not denied that he holds a German passport when asked
Apart from the postscript and comment, the information in this article was originally published in December 2016. It may be used free of charge by non-profit blogs, subject to the usual ‘free use’ provisions, provided full attribution to the SKWAWKBOX with a link to this blog is placed at the head of the article. Organisations wishing to make commercial use of information or images contained herein must contact support@skwawkbox.com to arrange permission and terms.
In August 2016, various news outlets reported a rumour that former UKIP leader Nigel Farage had applied for German citizenship and passport. That allegation was rubbished by ‘sources close to’ Mr Farage:
However, although a UKIP spokesman rubbished the rumour, when challengedMr Farage refused to deny that he had been applying for a passport and is not on record doing so since:
In a worldwide exclusive, the SKWAWKBOX can reveal reports that not only did Nigel Farage apply for a German passport, but he did so on the day after the EU referendum – and is under police investigation for allegedly providing false information.
Mr Farage was reported to the police by a concerned German citizen with an interest in British politics, who knew of the application and believed it could not have been made legitimately.
German law normally requires 8 years residency – with only minimal absences – in order to qualify for a passport. For those with a German spouse – Mr Farage’s wife is German – the length of residency is reduced to 3 years’ continual residency. Mr Farage did not, according to the complainant, meet those requirements but, on the application form, used the Hamburg address of a relative of his wife to claim residency.
The fact of the application and of the subsequent allegation and police investigation can be found in these confirmations from Hamburg police to the complainant – the first being the initial confirmation of receipt and case number and the second a response to a request for an update:
The SKWAWKBOX has spoken to the Hamburg police station PK24 and, while unwilling to discuss details of the case, the officer confirmed that the case reference, which is highlighted in the first image above, concerns a live and ongoing case 3 months after the complaint.
The ongoing police case puts beyond doubt the question of whether Nigel Farage made an application for a German passport.
The information from the complainant makes clear that he did so immediately after the EU referendum, which means that while celebrating his ‘win’ to take Britain out of the EU, he was making plans to retain EU citizenship.
Postscript [22 Apr 2019]
Last year, Farage admitted in an interview with former LibDem leader Nick Clegg that two of his children have German passports.
However, when asked directly, after the SKWAWKBOX exclusive, whether he possessed a German passport himself Farage did not deny it – and well over a year after the exclusive he still had not answered, according to his questioner, peer Andrew Adonis:
A search for any reference to him denying it since turned up no positive results. The SKWAWKBOX contacted Nigel Farage again to ask for confirmation whether he holds a German passport. He did not respond by the time of publication.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
Nigel Farage has had more than one opportunity to say whether he has a German passport. His new Brexit party supporters will surely want to know the answer now.
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