Minister Advises Voters To Be Worried About Farage Becoming PM

Voters should be “worried” about the prospect of Nigel Farage becoming prime minister after a senior Reform UK politician was jailed for taking bribes from Russia, a cabinet minister has declared.

Steve Reed told HuffPost UK it was “very surprising” that Farage has not launched a full investigation into any other links between his party and the Kremlin.

The communities secretary spoke out as he launched an independent review of foreign financial interference in UK politics.

It comes a month after Nathan Gill, Reform’s former leader in Wales, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years after he pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 2018 and 2019.

He admitted accepting substantial sums to make pro-Russian remarks both to the media and to the European parliament when he was Ukip and Brexit Party MEP.

The former Farage ally also served as the leader of Reform UK in Wales from March to May 2021.

Asked if he thought Farage is personally sympathetic to Putin, Reed told HuffPost UK: “I think Farage certainly appeared on the Russian propaganda TV channel Russia Today.

“We saw what his leader in Wales was up to. I think it’s very surprising that Farage hasn’t ordered an internal party investigation into what was going on with that individual and the way in which he was acting in hock to the Kremlin.”

Reed was also asked if he believed Farage would a threat to national security if he becomes prime minister.

He said: “I think there are things to be worried about. We don’t fully understand what went on and I would once again push Nigel Farage to open an investigation in his own party into how it could be that the leader of Reform UK is now doing a 10-year stretch in jail for treachery to the United Kingdom.

“If that doesn’t bother Nigel Farage enough to want to run an investigation, then I think questions need to be asked about why Nigel Farage doesn’t want to find out what went wrong in that case.”

Speaking last month, Farage said he had not ordered an investigation because he “doesn’t have a police force”.

In an interview with ITV News, the Reform leader was asked what questions he had personally asked Reform officials about the party’s alleged links to Russia.

He said: “I’ve asked everybody: have you ever taken money you shouldn’t have taken from anybody, and no one said yes.”

Farage added: “I am not a police officer, I cannot access emails or phone messages. I can’t investigate other than asking people. And I would point out to you that this is an embarrassment for Ukip, this is a very minor embarrassment for Reform.”

In a Commons statement on Tuesday, Reed said the review of foreign interference would be chaired by former top civil servant Philip Rycroft.

He said: “The facts are clear. A British politician took bribes to further the interests of the Russian regime, a regime which forcefully deported vulnerable Ukrainian children and killed a British citizen on British soil, using a deadly nerve agent.

“This conduct is a stain on our democracy. The independent review will work to remove that stain.”

Labour MP Rachel Blake told HuffPost UK: “The Nathan Gill case was a shocking breach of public trust and a clear warning about the threat of foreign interference.

“Our democracy is under threat and I welcome the government’s decision to launch this review. It’s right the government is acting now to strengthen safeguards and make absolutely clear that British democracy is not for sale.”