Labour defence minister Luke Pollard has challenged Nigel Farage to prove that Nathan Gill – who was jailed for accepting Russian bribes – was a one-off case
Nigel Farage is under growing pressure to launch a probe into whether pro-Putin forces are operating within Reform’s ranks.
Mr Farage has been criticised after the party’s former Welsh leader, Nathan Gill, was jailed for more than a decade for accepting Russian bribes. A Met Police probe is ongoing into whether the scandal runs deeper.
Writing for The Mirror, defence minister Luke Pollard said: “Of course, we’ve seen Nigel Farage try to dismiss this episode as just one a bad apple in his party’s ranks. He’s said he was ‘shocked’ to learn such a senior figure within his party was taking bungs of cash from figures linked to the Kremlin.
Scroll down to read Mr Pollard’s remarks in full
READ MORE: Former Reform UK heavyweight Nathan Gill jailed for accepting Russian bribesREAD MORE: Nigel Farage blasted over ‘Russia problem’ as minister launches blistering attack
“Yet if he’s really so shocked about this situation, you’d think he’d want to prove to the British people that he’s doing something about it. After all, if we believe his story that he never suspected a thing about Nathan Gill’s corruption, it’s hard to trust his assurances that ‘I believe 100% with all my heart, there’s nobody else’.
“He’s proved he’s no good at spotting this stuff. He should let someone else look.” Yesterday(MON) Business Secretary Peter Kyle said there is a “Russia problem” in Reform as he lashed out at Mr Farage.
On Friday Gill, 52, admitted eight counts of bribery after taking thousands of pounds to deliver scripted speeches and push a pro-Russian agenda on TV when he was an MEP. The disgraced former UKIP and Brexit Party politician accepted the cash from tycoon Oleg Voloshyn – branded a “pawn” of the Russian security services by the US government, the Old Bailey heard.
Mr Pollard said: “It’s hard to think of a more unpatriotic act that a politician could do.” The court heard on Friday that Gill promised to bring fellow Brexit Party MPs to a presentation by Vladimir Putin ally Victor Medvedchuk, who he publicly spoke up for.
On Friday Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: “I won’t be talking about any other individuals today, but what I can say very clearly, is that there’s an ongoing investigation and we have spoken to some other people that are mentioned within that process.
“This is Nathan Gill reaching out to individuals that he knows, who are Brits, who might be willing to be paid to go and make speeches. I think this was literally Nathan Gill picking individuals that he sat and worked alongside in the European Parliament.”
Yesterday(MON) Mr Kyle claimed Reform UK has a “Russia problem” and accusing Mr Farage of “talking out of both sides of his mouth”.
He said there is a “culture” within the party as he accused Mr Farage of pushing Vladimir Putin’s talking points.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Kyle said: “So some political parties do have outliers, and they are things which are completely out of the ordinary. But with Reform, they have a Russia problem in their party.
“Nigel Farage has often leant into Vladimir Putin. He has used his talking points. Nigel Farage has often praised Vladimir Putin in the past. So it is clear that there is a culture within Reform which has lent them towards the kind of strongman Russia of the past, but also it is the present as well.
“And they have this problem within their party.” Challenged by host Sophie Ridge over Mr Farage and Reform disputing this, he said: “Well, just look at the facts. Look at what he said in the past.
“Look at the amount of times he’s he’s appeared on Russian TV networks. Look at the times he has praised Vladimir Putin. Look at the times when he’s explained away the decisions of Vladimir Putin…
“More recently when when the entire country has realised just how dangerous Vladimir Putin is, of course Nigel Farage does a reverse ferret, as he often does. Nigel Farage will talk out of both sides of his mouth, but he’s been consistent about one thing in the past, over many, many years, and that is support and his admiration for Vladimir Putin.
“It is no wonder that people like the former leader of the Reform Party in Wales, gravitates towards the Reform Party more than any other.”
Reform UK head of policy Zia Yusuf said Gill “is a guy which, far as we’re concerned, is ancient history”. He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I think that would be an incredibly unreasonable position to take.
“Nathan Gill, what he did was treasonous. It was horrific. It was awful. He’s now been dealt with by the authorities. He deserves the sentence that he’s gotten. But as you’ve just said, this is a guy which, far as we’re concerned, is ancient history.
“I’ve never met him. I’d never heard of him, actually, until I saw his name sadly in the newspapers. I think it is unreasonable to besmirch everybody else at Reform, the millions of people around the country who support Nigel (Farage) and support our party.”
Gill’s conviction poses a fresh headache for Mr Farage, who has faced continual questions about his attitudes toward Putin. Defence Minister Al Carns said on Friday: “We’ve always felt that the Reform Party is a party of Putin apologists.”
The Reform leader has been haunted by 2014 comments in which he said Putin is the world leader he most admired. In an interview Mr Farage said he admired Putin “as an operator” but “not as a human being”.
The same year he accused the EU of poking the “Russian bear with a stick” over Ukraine. And between 2010 and 2014 he is understood to have made at least 17 appearances on state-owned Russia Today.
Last year the Reform leader came under fire for telling GB News that the idea Ukraine is going to win is “for the birds”. And he suggested that the West is simply “helping to prolong a stalemate”.
Last week Defence Secretary John Healey revealed a Russian spy ship had been discovered in British waters this month. A laser was aimed at RAF pilots tracking the vessel, named the Yantar – part of a fleet which maps underwater infrastructure.
Former MI5 chief Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller last month said a defence advisor who warned the UK is already at war with Russia “may be right”. She said: “It’s a different sort of war, but the hostility, the cyber attacks, the physical attacks, intelligence work, is extensive.”
MPs have also been warned that Russia and China are targeting them. Ministers and officials have long warned about the dangers of Russian influence in the UK.
In March 2018, former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in a Russian attack in Salisbury. The pair survived, but local woman Dawn Sturgess tragically died after being exposed to deadly nerve agent Novichok.
In a comment issued by Reform, Mr Farage declined to address the criticism, instead suggesting Labour “needs to look closer to home” over China.
‘You’d think Farage would want to prove he’s doing something’
Luke Pollard, Minister of State for Defence
It’s now been three days since Reform UK’s former leader in Wales was sent to prison for over 10 years at the Old Bailey for taking pro-Russian bribes.
Nathan Gill, a close confidant of Nigel Farage throughout their time in UKIP, the Brexit Party, and in Reform UK – and Farage’s pick for next First Minister of Wales – betrayed Britain by being paid to parrot pro-Kremlin talking points. It’s hard to think of a more unpatriotic act that a politician could do. Sent to a Parliament to stand up for British interests, only to sell out our country in the name of a barbaric, authoritarian foreign power.
This is just the latest shocking development exposing Russian attempts to undermine our national security. Just this week, the Defence Secretary revealed to the British people that a Russian spy ship on the edge of UK waters has been using lasers to target British forces monitoring their activity. We must be no illusions as to the threat Putin’s Russia poses, at home and abroad.
Before we were elected, and since entering government, Labour has been clear that our first priority is keeping our country and our people safe.
As a Defence Minister representing a naval city, and coming from a naval family, I have seen first-hand the extraordinary lengths our Armed Forces go to uphold and defend our British values. They are the very best of us, committed to the defence of our country and of our democracy.
To see their bravery, and our national security, so recklessly betrayed by a core part of Reform’s former leadership team is a stark reminder of the dark cloud that Reform tries to hide.
Of course, we’ve seen Nigel Farage try to dismiss this episode as just one a bad apple in his party’s ranks. He’s said he was “shocked” to learn such a senior figure within his party was taking bungs of cash from figures linked to the Kremlin. Yet if he’s really so shocked about this situation, you’d think he’d want to prove to the British people that he’s doing something about it. After all, if we believe his story that he never suspected a thing about Nathan Gill’s corruption, it’s hard to trust his assurances that “I believe 100% with all my heart, there’s nobody else”. He’s proved he’s no good at spotting this stuff. He should let someone else look.
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t some petty crime or minor political scandal. This was a senior figure spouting pro-Russian propaganda in an elected Parliament. And now more British former Members of the European Parliament are also being investigated being the Metropolitan Police.
Just yesterday, Reform’s policy chief Zia Yusuf refused five times to disavow Farage’s past comments that it was the West that provoked the war in Ukraine. It shows how this issue runs deep through Reform.
It’s only right that Nigel Farage allows an independent investigation into Reform’s party structures, elected representatives, candidates, donors, and wider networks to reassure the British public that every single pro-Russian link that may be leaching influence to the Kremlin is exposed and rooted out.
The fact Farage has so far failed to do so is a complete failure of leadership and the British people will rightly question what he may be trying to hide.
But I can’t help but notice that this is just the latest in a worrying pattern from Farage and his party.
As the Defence Secretary highlighted earlier this year, Reform MPs have been conspicuously absent from discussions and debates in Parliament about Russia and Ukraine, at a time when we need to show our full support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, concerns about Farage’s own pro-Russian leanings continue to stack up.
In 2014, he suggested that Putin was the world leader he admired the most, calling him “brilliant”, following a series of regular appearances on state-run Russian media between 2010 and 2014.
As an MEP for UKIP and the Brexit Party for over 20 years, he regularly aligned himself with hard-right European parties that voted down motions that criticised Russia.
And in the 2024 general election campaign, he was accused of parroting Putin’s lines, after repeatedly suggesting that the EU and NATO had “provoked” Russian’s invasion of Ukraine.
I’m proud to be part of a Labour Party that is proudly patriotic and understands the importance of our national security – we work to defend it every day. In this era of growing international tensions, keeping Britain safe should be at the core of anyone wishing to seek office.
Our unshakeable commitment to NATO and our steadfast support for Ukraine are central principles of our government. We will never allow illicit actors to undermine that commitment.
It’s time Nigel Farage decided whether he can stand up for the same principles, or if he is happy to be seen as Putin’s puppet. But this whole grubby saga just shows how Russia-friendly Reform are, and that they should be nowhere near our national security.
Ends