Nigel Farage's claim that he was "trying to bring up a big family earning half what a GP earns" is contradicted by publicly available salary data for the period around 2011. **Family size:** Farage has four children (two from each of two marriages), which could fairly be described as a "big family," so that element of the claim is reasonable. **Earnings comparison:** The core assertion — that his income was about half a GP's — does not hold up. - In 2011, all MEPs received a standard pre-tax monthly salary of €7,956.87, equating to roughly €95,500 annually pre-tax. At 2011 exchange rates this was approximately £83,000 per year pre-tax. After EU tax and insurance deductions, the net was around €6,084/month (about €73,000/year), roughly £63,000 per year. - UK GP earnings in 2010/11: contractor (partner) GPs averaged around £99,000–£104,100 pre-tax; salaried GPs averaged about £57,600 pre-tax. So Farage's MEP salary was roughly comparable to a salaried GP's pre-tax earnings and actually higher than a salaried GP's net pay, while being not far below a contractor GP's pre-tax income. It was nowhere near "half" of a GP's earnings — half of even the higher contractor figure would be around £50,000, well below his MEP salary. Farage might have been alluding to take-home pay after personally bearing office and staffing expenses, but the direct comparison he drew — his earnings versus a GP's — is not supported. The best available evidence on salaries contradicts the "half what a GP earns" assertion. Sources: - BBC News, "Guide to the European Parliament: Salaries" — https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11725041 - BBC News, "Euro MP allowances boosted again" — https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12645730 - NHS England Digital, "GP Earnings and Expenses - 2010-11" — https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/gp-earnings-and-expenses-estimates/gp-earnings-and-expenses-2010-11 - GPonline, "GP income fell 1.8% in 2010/11, official data show" — https://www.gponline.com/gp-income-fell-18-2010-11-official-data-show/article/1151916 - IPSA, "MPs' pay & pensions" (showing UK MP salary of £65,738 in 2011, roughly equivalent to MEP pay) — https://www.theipsa.org.uk/mps-pay-and-pensions - Wikipedia, "Nigel Farage" (family details) — https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Nigel_farage