London Evening Standard/London

Ukip leader Nigel Farage was yesterday accused of employing an alleged former mistress on his staff.
Former Ukip MEP Nikki Sinclaire, who left the party after a fall-out, made the allegation in the European Parliament at Strasbourg. She asked him: “With unemployment still a problem across Europe and indeed across the UK, does Farage thinks it is a fair use of taxpayers’ money, namely his secretarial allowance, not only to employ his wife Kirsten but his former mistress Annabelle Fuller?
“Is that a responsible use of taxpayers’ money, Mr Farage?”
Farage - who has dismissed the claim as “nonsense” - ignored her and continued taking notes.
Asked if he intended to reply, he said: “I don’t want to answer that at all.”
Ukip’s press office did not immediately respond to requests for a comment. But Farage was quoted on the Guido Fawkes website as saying: “It’s absolute nonsense. It’s just a malicious attempt to do damage. Every single national newspaper has asked me that since 2006. The answer is the same.’”
Sinclaire, elected as an MEP in June 2009, left Ukip after refusing to sit with Italian party Liga Nord, which she called homophobic.
The gay MEP, who had a sex change at 23, later won a claim of sex discrimination against Ukip.
In February 2012 she was arrested as part of a probe into allowances and expenses by West Midlands police. She denies all the allegations. Fuller, a former senior press officer, is listed in official European Parliament records as one of five members of staff working for Farage, along with wife Kirsten Farage.
MEPs can spend up to £205,000 on office salaries.
In 2008, Fuller said that she was the victim of a smear campaign aimed at undermining Farage.
In 2011 she accused a Tory MP of molesting her at his flat after a drink.