Politics Jess Phillips nigel farage Richard tice
Jess Phillips absolutely rinsed Richard Tice as he was running interference over Farage’s questionable £5 million crypto gift
Now that there’s a by-election in Makerfield to campaign for, it’s going to be a little more difficult for the Reform team to avoid being in the same room as anybody who might ask them an awkward question about Dear Leader’s £5 million gift from a crypto billionaire.
On Wednesday, Farage’s right-hand man Richard Tice braved an appearance on Peston. We’re reasonably sure that FIFA will come up with a medal for him any day now.
As he was fielding Robert Peston’s points on the questionable nature of the gift/bung/donation – call it what you will – he failed to spot Labour MP Jess Phillips coming in for the kill with this comment.
“I’ll tell you what people don’t talk about in Makerfield… how their billionaire mate just gave them £5 million”
Labour MP Jess Phillips and Deputy Leader of Reform UK @TiceRichard clash over Nigel Farage’s gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne#Peston pic.twitter.com/NBL0XyUzru
— Peston (@itvpeston) May 20, 2026
“I’ll tell you what people don’t talk about in Makerfield – how their billionaire mate just gave them five million quid. That isn’t a thing that would have happened to anyone in Makerfield.”
“D’you know what they actually talk about? How are we going to get decent jobs?… They talk about how are we going to get rid of the HMOs full of asylum seekers.”
Deflect, deflect, deflect.
Viewers enjoyed her on-point takedown. These five responses captured the mood.
How the leader of a party (and would-be PM) paid for real estate inconsistent with his earnings is 100% everyone's business, @TiceRichard. https://t.co/DUYqY2F87o
— The Finance Guy (@OneFinanceGuy) May 20, 2026
Tice: "The point is he was not in politics at the time!"
Except he absolutely was.
Farage was President of Reform at the time. pic.twitter.com/uTes9Pzs5A— James Neill ≠ (@jneill) May 20, 2026
Well said @jessphillips https://t.co/OltdJKT6yC
— Ellie Merton 🕷 #longcovid (@ellie_merton) May 20, 2026
"he was not in politics at the time".
Yeah that's why the billionaire had to bribe him. To run. That's the point. https://t.co/y54d8hHhnL— Alex S ♂️ #FBPA (@2ears2wheels) May 20, 2026
If you asked Tice the time he'd reply getting immigrants into his answer.
— Ste Mccoy (@lpool39) May 20, 2026
We can’t come close to mustering any sympathy for Tice, but we agree he was well out of his depth.
Tice is so out of his depth here, I almost feel sorry for him
— pete (@pjd23272) May 20, 2026
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Source Peston Image Screengrab