Farage says ex-Reform leader in Wales who took Russian bribes was ‘bad apple’
Nigel Farage has insisted a former senior figure in his party convicted of taking pro-Russian bribes was a “bad apple”.
Nathan Gill, who led Reform UK in Wales in 2021, admitted taking bribes to make statements in favor of Vladimir Putin’s Russia while he was a member of the European Parliament.
His activities were said to include making pro-Russian statements to the European Parliament about events in Ukraine and submitting opinion pieces to news organizations.
Speaking on a campaign visit to Caerphilly on Friday, Mr Farage said he was “shocked” by Gill’s admissions but claimed Reform was doing its best to vet its candidates despite the party’s vetting process being beset by problems.
Asked about Gill’s admission, Mr Farage said: “Any political party can find all sorts of terrible people in it.
“Gill is particularly shocking because I knew her as a devout Christian, a very clean-living, honest person. So I was deeply shocked. But, you know, this is a different time.”
“I am the only one [in Reform] “He really knew her, it went way back.”
Gill, 52, pleaded guilty last month to eight bribery charges committed between December 6, 2018, and July 18, 2019.
He was leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021.
Mr Farage added: “Every political party has a bad apple, in fact a lot of families end up with bad apples, things like that happen.
“I don’t want to underestimate the seriousness of this… but it is a historic event. You can never, ever 100 percent guarantee that everyone you meet in your life, everyone you shake hands with at the bar, is a good person.”
“What you can do is, you know, do everything you can through review and everything else to make sure that you’re prioritizing the public interest, decent people, and that’s something we’re working hard on.”
Reform UK has problems with its candidates, councilors and MPs despite Mr Farage promising to professionalise the party.
Earlier this year, South Basildon and East Thurrock Reform MP James McMurdock resigned from the party amid allegations he took out government loans for businesses with no employees during the Covid pandemic.
This comes just months after MP Rupert Lowe was stripped of his whip over allegations he made “verbal threats” against the party’s chairman, Zia Yusuf; Mr Lowe denied these allegations. The Crown Prosecution Service later said: “There is insufficient evidence to file charges against Mr. Lowe.
And during the general election campaign the party was rocked by a series of revelations about the online activities of some would-be MPs, from links to a British fascist leader to suggestions the UK should remain neutral in the fight against the Nazis and admiration for Adolf Hitler’s “brilliant” ability to inspire action.
But in July Mr Farage said he “cannot apologize” for the 2024 election review process because he was not involved in it.
“I came and inherited this situation where hundreds of candidates who participated in the last general election did not go through the vetting process,” he said.
The Reform leader has threatened legal action against Vetting.com, claiming chairman Colin Bloom has “planted” the right-wing party due to its past links to the Conservative Party.
Vetting said he did not have time to vet all of Reform’s 609 candidates before the early election in the summer.
