“There’s no money in politics,” Nigel Farage complained almost a decade ago, describing himself as “53, separated and skint”.

He has since proved himself wrong. After two years in parliament, Farage has brought in £2m, including hospitality, through speeches, presenting, writing news articles, promoting gold bullion – and even recording modestly priced Cameo clips for his fans. It seems that every £70 video counts when it comes to making cash.

This is on top of his annual salary as MP for Clacton of almost £100,000, and forthcoming pension from the European Union of about £73,000 a year, which he will be able to claim next year when he is 63.

However, the Reform UK leader’s personal income is dwarfed by the £5m handed to Farage by the mega-donor Christopher Harborne, as revealed by the Guardian last week, which he says was for the purposes of ensuring his security for the rest of his life.…