Farage’s EU salary cut by £35,000 as questions raised over his assistant

♦ Nigel Farage’s salary has been docked by half following an investigation which accused him of misspending funds intended for his office in the European Parliament, weeks after he revealed that he is “skint”.

The former Ukip leader will now lose €40,000 (£35,000) from his salary to recoup funds he spent on hiring Christopher Adams as parliamentary assistant, according to The Guardian.

EU auditors said they did not believe that Mr Adams was working on issues related to Mr Farage’s work as an MEP. It is understood Mr Adams is a former national nominating officer for Ukip.

Mr Farage was last night defended by the European Parliament’s Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group (Efdd), of which he is the chairman.

An Efdd spokesman said: “There is a vindictive campaign by the European Parliament of selective persecution of Eurosceptic MEPS, parties and groups. This allegation is all part of their politically-motivated assault.”

The pay cut emerged as a source in the parliament told The Guardian: “Since January 1 [2018] the European Parliament has withheld 50 per cent in order to recoup the €40,000 due in salary that was paid to Christopher Adams and which cannot be proved by Farage.”

Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph he was a victim of “arbitrary law”.