Nigel Farage made Dubai trip to woo British expats and meet UAE ministers

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reportedly met with UAE ministers and attempted to woo British expatriates during a recent visit to Dubai, according to UK media, highlighting the growing relationship between the populist right in Europe and Abu Dhabi.

Farage was hosted by the UAE during a two-day, £10,000 trip to the UAE in December, where he watched the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In his most recent trip to the Gulf state, he said he was involved in a "very good interview" on Wednesday with an unnamed Emirati minister in Dubai, at an event attended by UAE Industry Minister and ADNOC head Sultan Al-Jaber, according to The Guardian.

Also in attendance were recent Reform UK defector Nadhim Zahawi and Paul Marshall, owner of GB News, an outlet that has received financial backing from UAE-based investor Legatum. Farage, who is a key figure in GB News, also celebrated the broadcaster's fifth anniversary in Dubai.

The Reform UK party leader has made two visits to the UAE in as many months, which have been interpreted as an attempt by the Gulf state to play a role in domestic European politics, and particularly with the populist right.

Farage also made outreach to British expats living in the UAE, who have been at the heart of a right-wing narrative that the Gulf state offers a safer and more prosperous place to live due to alleged high crime and tax rates in the UK.

He claimed that the many expats he spoke to would return home if there were lower taxes and less crime - something Reform UK, which is leading in the polls, has claimed it would fix if it were in power.

"There's loads of expats [in Dubai]. Many of them would like to come back to the UK"  he said. "I’ve spoken to loads of people like that."

The UAE has issued a hardline ban on the Muslim Brotherhood and detained dozens of pro-democracy activists linked to the movement. Farage has said he would ban the Brotherhood as a "terrorist group" if Reform UK came to power, a move the current UK government has refused to take, amid alleged UAE efforts to have the group proscribed in the West.

"These are all the things that we're going to do in the United Kingdom," he said. "We're going to win the next election. And many of you who have come to Dubai will suddenly find London a more attractive place to be."

The UAE has been accused of discouraging Emirati students from studying in the UK due to the Starmer government's reluctance to ban the Muslim Brotherhood.

There have been reports that Farage has reached out to the UAE leadership regarding political financing and points of mutual interest, as Abu Dhabi continues its campaign against political Islam.

Farage is currently campaigning in Manchester for a by-election, for which Reform UK has put forward a notable critic of political Islam, Mathew Goodwin, as a candidate, who currently leads in the polls for the Gorton and Denton seat.