Labour says Farage must “give the public a cast iron guarantee that any remaining pro-Russian links have been removed from his Party”.
Ex-Reform leader in Wales and Nathan Gill has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for making pro-Russia speeches in the European Parliament in 2018 and 2019.
Reform leader Nigel Farage is now facing calls from Labour to launch a “forensic” investigation into his party to guarantee any further pro-Russia links are rooted out.
Gill was a close ally of Farage’s in the European Parliament from 2014, when he was elected as a UKIP MEP. From 2019 to January 2020, he sat as a Brexit Party MEP.
In 2021, he briefly served as the leader of Reform in Wales.
After Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery at the Old Bailey on 26 September, it took Farage two weeks to make any comment on the case. During that time, senior Reform figures including Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice claimed Gill was not well known in the party.
When Farage finally commented, he said he was “stunned” Gill had taken the bribes.
Delivering the sentence at the Old Bailey this morning, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb “The offending was persistent, rather an isolated lapse of judgement.”
She called it “sophisticated offending” and said Gill had “abused a position of significant authority and trust”.
Responding to the news of Gill’s sentencing, Al Carns MP, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, said: “Nigel Farage must urgently initiate an independent investigation into every inch of Reform UK’s party structures, membership, donors, and representatives, to give the public a cast iron guarantee that any remaining pro-Russian links have been removed from his Party. He must leave no stone unturned in this investigation.”
“No patriotic British political party should allow pro-Russian elements to covertly have an influence on our political system or society. It’s as anti-British as you can get.
“It’s time Nigel Farage proved he isn’t happy to parrot Kremlin talking points any longer and demonstrate to the public that Putin has no hold over his party.”
Anti-corruption charity, Spotlight on Corruption, says the case demonstrates that the UK is “a soft target” for foreign interference.
Helen Taylor, Deputy Director of Spotlight on Corruption, said: “Police and prosecutors should be congratulated for securing the first-ever conviction of a UK politician for bribery and in doing so ensuring that Gill faces meaningful accountability for his betrayal of public trust. The stiff sentence handed down by the judge will hopefully prove to be a deterrent for others who might be tempted to abuse their position in public office for personal or political gain.
“As this case and the recent abortive China spy trial demonstrate, the UK is a soft target for foreign influence operations. At a time when there are rock bottom levels of UK public trust in politicians, the government needs to come clean with the public about the level of the threat and set out what it intends to do to protect our democracy from the predations of hostile powers.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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