Nigel Farage has been pictured at upmarket London restaurant Boisdale the same night as Made In Chelsea’s Georgia Toffolo and her aristocratic boyfriend George Cottrell after the capital’s first week of Tier 2 lockdown.
The Brexit Party leader was seen leaving the posh restaurant wearing a face mask and getting into a car last night, on the same night that Miss Toffolo and Mr Cottrell were at Boisdale.
Mr Cottrell, who is thought to be worth £300million, is thought to be engaged to Miss Toffolo. He is a former adviser to Mr Farage and served time in a US jail for offering to launder money for drug lords.
The group of three are thought to have dined out together at Boisdale, an establishment which is famous for entertaining its guests with its whisky bars, cigar terraces and live jazz.
Under Tier 2 restrictions, Londoners are not allowed to meet with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place.
Nigel Farage has been pictured at London Boisdale the same night as Georgia Toffolo and her boyfriend George Cottrell
Made In Chelsea’s Georgia Toffolo was pictured standing outside the upmarket London restaurant
Miss Toffolo was seen leaving Boisdale with George Cottrell, amid claims the pair are secretly engaged
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was seen getting into a car after leaving London Boisdale of Belgravia
They cannot meet socially with friends and family indoors in any setting, including restaurants, unless they live with them or have formed a support bubble with them.
However, Londoners may gather in groups of six outside at venues which are following Covid-secure guidance, including licensed premises, shops, leisure and entertainment venues and places of worship.
It is not known if Mr Farage, his former aide Mr Cottrell and local celebrity Miss Toffolo dined outside on London Boisdale’s upstairs terrace, which would be allowed under Covid-19 rules.
MailOnline has contacted Mr Farage and London Boisdale for comment.
Former UKIP leader Mr Farage has described lockdown as a ‘tyranny’ and criticised the Government’s measures, accusing Boris Johnson of adopting an ‘authoritarian’ response to the coronavirus crisis.
Writing in the Daily Express, he called a second national shutdown ‘a social and economic catastrophe for this country’ and blasted the Government’s use of emergency powers to ‘interfere in our day-to-day lives’.
Mr Farage added: ‘Being put under virtual house arrest for weeks was bad enough. Now normal people are being threatened with fines of up to £10,000 if they do not do as they’re told.
‘Boris and his Government are doing as they please without any opposition and we should be very concerned. Our civil liberties are now at risk by an administration that increasingly seems to act like an elected dictatorship.
‘I am sure I am not alone in saying that we have now reached the point where the cure has become worse than the disease itself. Nobody voted for this. It’s up to us all to fight against this tyranny.’
Nigel Farage has been pictured at upmarket London restaurant Boisdale of Belgravia the same night as Made In Chelsea’s Georgia Toffolo and her aristocratic boyfriend George Cottrell
Miss Toffolo was seen leaving Boisdale with George Cottrell, amid claims the pair are secretly engaged
Miss Toffolo was seen leaving Boisdale with George Cottrell, amid claims the pair are secretly engaged
Nigel Farage has been pictured at London Boisdale the same night as Georgia Toffolo and her boyfriend George Cottrell
Mr Cottrell is the nephew of Lord Hesketh, a hereditary peer, and former Conservative Party treasurer who defected to UKIP in 2011. He was described on website Grazia as a ‘typical upper-class rogue’.
In July 2016, Mr Cottrell was arrested by FBI agents while with Mr Farage at Chicago’s O’Hare airport after the pair had attended the Republican National Convention, where they reportedly met Donald Trump’s aides.
Mr Farage leader later said that he did not know about his background.
Mr Cottrell spent eight months in a US jail after advertising his services on the ‘dark web’, offering to launder money through offshore accounts to what he thought was a gang of drug traffickers.
Before his arrest, he allegedly played a key role in the 2016 EU referendum, running Mr Farage’s private office and handling all media enquiries for the pro-Brexit politician.