Lawmaker's bribery conviction sparks UK probe into foreign financial interference

LONDON (AP) — Britain on Tuesday launched a review into foreign financial interference in U.K. politics, after a British former member of the European Parliament was jailed for taking Russian bribes.

Nathan Gill was sentenced last month to more than 10 years in prison for making statements sympathetic to Russia in exchange for money.

Gill sat in the European Union legislature for two hard-right parties led by Nigel Farage, UKIP and the Brexit Party. After Britain’s exit from the EU in 2020 he became the leader in Wales of Farage’s current party, Reform UK. He is no longer a party member.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed, who is responsible for elections, said Gill’s conduct “is a stain on our democracy. The independent review will work to remove that stain.”

He said the review will be led by former senior civil servant Philip Rycroft. It will look at the political financing laws, the rules governing political parties and whether there are enough safeguards against illicit money, including when it comes to cryptocurrency donations.

Reed said it would look at “all potential sources of malign foreign financial interference,” including China. Rycroft is due to submit his report by the end of March.

It will not look at claims of foreign interference in Britain’s 2016 referendum on EU membership, a claim made by some opponents of Brexit.

British government and intelligence officials have increasingly warned that British democracy is vulnerable to manipulation.

In November, security service MI5 warned lawmakers that Chinese spies were actively reaching out to “recruit and cultivate” them through headhunters or cover companies. MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum said Beijing was behind “efforts to interfere covertly in U.K. public life.”