Nigel Farage has said his £5m gift from a crypto billionaire is “not any of your business”, saying the cash from the British Thai-based businessman Christopher Harborne was “a purely private matter”.

The Reform UK leader also said it was not hypocritical of him to attack Keir Starmer for receiving donations of glasses and suits, because Starmer had been “the leader of the opposition and I was a presenter on GB News”.

Farage, who has called for a general election after Starmer stood down as prime minister, said he was not paid to promote cryptocurrency interests because he already backed changing the law.

“Number one, I wasn’t in politics. Number two, I don’t believe there’s anything in the rules that says I had to…