Nathan Gill, who became Reform UK’s leader in Wales, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison for taking bribes to spout pro-Russia lines while serving as a UKIP and Brexit Party MEP
Keir Starmer has launched an investigation into foreign financial meddling in British politics following the jailing of a former senior Reform figure for accepting Russian payments. Nathan Gill, the party’s former Welsh leader, received a 10-and-a-half year prison sentence last month for taking bribes to promote pro-Moscow viewpoints during interviews and addresses in the European Parliament.
Gill served as an MEP for Ukip and the Brexit Party between 2014 and 2020, before taking the helm of Reform in Wales in 2021. He stepped down after losing his bid for a Senedd seat in the 2021 election.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed branded the case a “stain on our democracy” whilst announcing plans for an independent investigation, the Mirror reported.
He told MPs: “An elected politician took bribes to parrot the lies of a hostile state responsible for the death of Dawn Sturgess, a British citizen on British soil. He took the side of those responsible for invading a sovereign European state and he was prosecuted while Putin’s military targeted the men, women and children of Ukraine.
“At the time he sat as a member of the European Parliament, supposedly representing the British people and went on to become a senior leader of a UK political party.” He added: “This conduct is a stain on our democracy.
“The independent review will work to remove that stain.” Philip Rycroft, a former senior civil servant, has been handed the job of spearheading the probe into overseas cash flowing into British politics, with findings due next year.
The independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics will be led by Philip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary of the Brexit department, and will report both to Reed, who is responsible for elections, and to Dan Jarvis, the minister of state for security and chair of the defending democracy taskforce. While the review will examine the broader issue of foreign influence, investigations of specific wrongdoing will remain the responsibility of the police and the Electoral Commission, rather than the review itself, ITV reported.
This follows the Government’s publication of a blueprint earlier this year aimed at shielding elections from meddling. Mr Reed explained the strategy was crafted to plug age-old gaps in the system.
However, today he admitted: “In the time since that strategy was published, events have shown that we need to consider whether our firewall is enough.” Gill, 52, pocketed at least £40,000 from ex-Ukrainian MP Oleg Voloshyn, who America had previously branded a “pawn” of the Russian Government.
Voloshyn was carrying out orders for Viktor Medvedchuk, a Putin crony who controlled pro- Russia broadcaster 112 Ukraine. He faced charges of high treason.
Following Russia’s invasion in 2022, he was shipped off to Russia under a prisoner swap deal.
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