Dominic Murphy, commander of counter terror policing in London said the former Reform UK leader in Wales Nathan Gill had committed offences that "go to the heart of our democracy" after the former MEP was jailed for taking Russian bribes.
00:00And so I think it says something about Nathan Gill, that he pleaded guilty and he's now been sentenced for what are extraordinarily serious offences that really were offensive to our democracy as well.
00:13And of course it's a risk that all elected officials take at being targeted or the focus of foreign countries. Nathan Gill was a willing participant in his activity.
00:2352-year-old Nathan Gill of Anglesey in North Wales pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery on dates between the 6th of December 2018 and the 18th of July 2019.
00:39A former leader of Reform UK in Wales was jailed here at the Old Bailey last week for ten and a half years.
00:47He was paid £40,000 to make pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament, Met Police Anti-Terror Commander Dominic Murphy's comments on this case come just weeks after a group of Wagner Group Stooges were jailed for setting fire to a warehouse storing aid to Ukraine in London
01:10as part of what was described as a planned campaign of terrorism and sabotage for the Russian state.
01:20So this is a long-running investigation as you've seen from the time it's taken from our first involvement in 2021 right through to now.
01:29But of course this is an ongoing investigation. We work very closely with international partners.
01:33Our interest is in helping international partners to make sure that their democracy is preserved in the same way that we've been able to do here.
01:42So yes, we are running an ongoing investigation and I'm sure you'll appreciate hard for me to talk about that any further.
01:47What I can say from the conversations we can see Nathan Gill having with Voloshin and others,
01:53he was the other individual in Ukraine that was encouraging Nathan Gill's activity,
01:58is that actually Nathan Gill was offering his services to make contact with other people.
02:04But of course we continue to investigate and so you'll understand I won't be able to talk any more about that.
02:09Look, I think the reality is we need to be alive to all the ways in which Russia or pro-Russian elements of other countries
02:16will try and influence our society, our democracy and of course commit criminal offences here.
02:23So we remain alive to incidents like this but thankfully they are rare and it's really important for people to remember that.
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