British court jails former MEP and Reform UK politician for pro-Russia bribes

LONDON - Former MEP and Welsh leader of the far-right Reform UK party Nathan Gill was on Nov 21 jailed for 10 years for taking bribes to deliver pro-Russia speeches in the European Parliament.

Gill, 52,

pleaded guilty at London’s Old Bailey criminal court in September

to accepting thousands of euros from a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine, and making scripted statements and television appearances at his behest.

These involved raising concerns about democracy in Ukraine, and criticising Mr Volodymyr Zelensky when he was elected as the country’s president.

Jailing him for 10 years and six months, judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Gill he “abused a position of significant authority and trust.

His conduct “fundamentally compromised the integrity of a supranational legislative body”, she said.

“You accepted payments from foreign nationals, made statements on important international matters at their behest, utilised scripted material presented as your own, and orchestrated the involvement of other MEPs,” she added.

Gill was an MEP from 2014 to 2020. He was a member of the Eurosceptic UKIP party, including when it was led by

current Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

He was also leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, and was briefly a member of the Welsh Parliament, called the Senedd, from 2016 to 2017.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of accepting bribes between December 2018 and July 2019 from Ukrainian politician Oleg Voloshyn, who was later sanctioned by the United States and indicted for treason in Ukraine.

He took around £40,000 (S$68,000) in payments during that time, according to prosecutors.

“This case strikes at the heart of democratic integrity,” Ms Bethan David, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said in a statement.

Security minister Dan Jarvis said the actions were a “betrayal of our country, our people and our national security”.

‘Treasonous’

Police seized Gill’s phone in September 2021 as he travelled to Russia for a scientific conference.

They found WhatsApp message exchanges with Voloshyn starting in September 2018, including Gill agreeing to make introductions in the European Parliament and to try to win over “several MEPs”.

On one occasion, Voloshyn asked for him to arrange for politicians from the Brexit Party – Reform UK’s precursor – to attend a presentation on the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Gill said he would try “drag a few in to attend” the presentation by Victor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Farage has said he did not know about his former colleague’s missteps.

Gill is no longer a Reform UK member.

However, the case could be a headache for Mr Farage, who has been criticised as being too soft in his stance on Mr Putin.

He is also hoping that Reform UK – currently leading several national polls – will win big in Wales in May 2024 local elections.

But the anti-immigration party’s only member in the devolved Welsh Parliament was suspended on Nov 19 for using a racial slur.

A Reform UK spokesperson “welcomed” the sentencing, adding that “Mr Gill’s actions were reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable”.

Leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats Ed Davey accused Mr Farage and Reform UK of being a “danger to national security”, calling for a probe into “Russian interference in our politics”.

The sentencing also comes days after UK parliamentarians were warned by the domestic intelligence agency MI5 to be

cautious of Chinese spies

trying to glean sensitive information from lawmakers and staffers by disguising as headhunters.

It followed a furore over the dropping of charges earlier this year against a parliamentary researcher accused of spying for Beijing. REUTERS