Former Reform leader in Wales jailed for taking pro-Russia bribes

Russia is seeking to bribe Britain’s MPs to undermine our democracy, police warned today as the former head of the Reform UK party in Wales was jailed for taking cash to back Putin’s allies.

Nathan Gill was jailed for over ten years today after accepting tens of thousands of pounds in bribes to give speeches, interviews and arrange events supporting Russian activity in Ukraine.

The former leader of the Reform UK party in Wales was told to 'recruit' other British MPs and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to attend pro-Russia events, including ‘a leading figure in the Brexit Party’, which was headed by Nigel Farage at the time.

The 52-year-old was promised he would be ‘rewarded’ with a ‘sack of paper gifts’ thought to contain money, if he would bring his ‘friends’ in the Brexit Party, which is now known as Reform UK.

Now it can be revealed that four other pro-Brexit MEPs are under investigation in connection with the scandal.

Scotland Yard confirmed yesterday that Mr Farage is not one of the politicians being investigated and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Reform leader.

As Gill was sentenced today, Head of Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command Dominic Murphy warned that Moscow’s attempts to influence British politics are ‘widespread’.

He suggested Russia is seeking to bribe and influence MPs to subvert our democracy saying: ‘This is the first type of case we've seen like this but what we've seen in this case does raise questions.

‘I think we're beginning to see a course of conduct in those states that wish to do us harm, about their influence over society, politicians and politics more broadly.’

In an unprecedented prosecution, Gill pocketed around £5,000 a time to read out parliamentary speeches urging Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow and seek peace after Russia invaded Crimea and sent paramilitary units into the Donbas region.

He delivered scripted media statements criticising Ukraine leader President Zelensky and supporting Ukrainian politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, a personal friend of President Putin.

Medvedchuk, who was later accused of treason in Ukraine and attempting to loot national resources, is considered so close to Putin that the Russian leader is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.

Gill was paid thousands to give TV interviews in favour of the key Putin ally and to make speeches in the European Parliament, where he was an MEP for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2014 to 2020.

The father-of-five was the leader of UKIP in Wales from 2014 to 2016 before it became Reform UK Wales in 2021.

The practicing Mormon, who lives on the island of Anglesey with his family, represented North Wales in the National Assembly, now the Welsh Parliament, between 2016 and 2017

The Old Bailey heard today that Gill ‘offers no excuse for his venal compromise’ after he accepted at least £30,000 in bribes from Oleg Voloshyn, a former Ukrainian politician to give pro-Russian statements.

WhatsApp messages revealed that Gill would deliver word-for-word scripted statements provided by Voloshyn to the European Parliament and in interviews to a pro-Russian TV station backed by Medvedchuk.

Police later found images on Instagram of Gill being interviewed by Voloshyn's wife, Nadia Sass, who worked for the same TV station, days after arranging an event for Medvedchuk in the European Parliament.

Gill also made appearances on the Russian state broadcaster RT in 2016 and 2017, criticising the EU’s sanctions imposed on Russia for its war against Ukraine.

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Ex-leader of Reform in Wales admits taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements in EU parliament

At the time, he was not the only UKIP member to do so, as Mr Farage was also making appearances on the RT channel around the same time criticising the EU and NATO.

Prosecutors did not name the other MEPs Gill attempted to recruit, but he travelled to Kiev in 2018 with Jonathan Arnott and David Coburn, two other Brexit Party MEPs who have stated they were on a ‘fact finding trip’ to meet with journalists.

They took part in a TV programme hosted by Ms Sass as part of a campaign opposing Russian sanctions, but there is no suggestion that they took bribes for their participation.

The trip was funded by an organisation run by Janusz Niedzwiecki, a Polish lobbyist arrested in 2021 and charged with ‘espionage for the secret services of the Russian Federation'.

Following a tip-off, police raided Gill’s home in September 2021, discovering bundles of cash including euros and US dollars.

Detectives discovered Gill was already on his way to Russia and stopped him at Manchester Airport where they seized his mobile phone which revealed scores of messages about payments for speeches.

Gill later admitted eight counts of bribery between 2018 and 2019.

Today he was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison. 

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Gill had lost his ‘moral compass’ and betrayed the electorate after he accepted payments to enlist MEPs representing the North East, South West and North West of England to give interviews to pro-Russian TV stations.

The judge told Gill: ‘The revelation of your actions has a broad and deleterious effect on public confidence and trust in democratic institutions of importance to many dozens of millions of people.’

She added: ‘Whether or not you believe any of what you said, allowing money to corrupt you moral compass amounts to a grave betrayal of trust placed on you by the electorate.'

After the case, Commander Murphy said: ‘This sentencing should send a clear message that any efforts by foreign powers to bribe people in the UK in elected and influential positions will not be tolerated. It also shows that there are grave and severe consequences for anyone here who engages with that sort of activity.

‘Instead of looking after the interests of his constituents and the interests of the UK, Gill was more concerned about making money for himself by peddling views and opinions that were in support of the Russian state’s activities in Ukraine.’

After the sentencing, Defence Minister Al Carns called for Reform to launch an investigation.

‘Wherever we see Russian influence in UK politics, it's got to be weeded out,’ he said.

‘And I genuinely believe that we need Reform to conduct a full investigation to winkle out, weed out any Russian influence whatsoever in the party.’

Security minister Dan Jarvis said: ‘Nathan Gill used his privileged position in public office to advance the malign interests of Russia over those of the UK in exchange for money - that is a betrayal of our country, our people, and our national security.’

Bethan David, Head of Counter Terrorism for the Crown Prosecution Service, added: ‘This case strikes at the heart of democratic integrity. Accepting bribes from foreign nationals to influence parliamentary proceedings undermines public trust and the proper functioning of government.

‘Nathan Gill has admitted that he knew what he was doing was wrong, and his activities only ended because of the UK’s departure from the European Union, removing him from a position of use for those who sought to influence him.

‘Public office is a position of trust, and his actions represent a serious breach of that trust, his sentencing today shows the seriousness of that breach.’