The government has launched an independent review of foreign financial interference in UK politics, after the jailing of a former Reform MEP for taking Russian bribes.
Nathan Gill, a former Reform UK party leader in Wales, was jailed for 10 and a half years last month after he admitted being paid £40,000 to make pro-Russian statements in the European parliament – conduct that housing secretary Steve Reed described as a “stain on our democracy”.
Announcing the review in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Reed said that the government now needs to consider whether its “firewall is enough” to protect the country from electoral interference.
The inquiry, which will report at the end of March, will look into the current financial rules on donations and election safeguards and make recommendations, the housing secretary said.
The review will be chaired by former top civil servant Philip Rycroft, who previously worked in the Cabinet Office and Department for Exiting the EU under previous Conservative governments.
The review will also look at imposing safeguards against illicit funding streams, including cryptocurrencies.
It comes just days after The Independent revealed that the Electoral Commission has been asked to investigate crypto donations to Reform UK.
The party announced earlier this year that it would be the first British party to accept political donations in crypto, following the example of Donald Trump’s campaign in the US.
Addressing the Commons, the housing secretary said: “Following discussions with ministerial colleagues, I have today ordered an independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics.
“This will be led by the former permanent secretary Philip Rycroft, reporting both to me as secretary of state responsible for elections and to the minister of state for security [Dan Jarvis] as the chair of the defending democracy taskforce.
“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.”
He added: “We published our strategy for modern and secure elections earlier this year. This will close loopholes that should have been closed long before we entered office.
“However, in the time since that strategy was published, events have shown that we need to consider whether our firewall is enough.”
Investigations of wrongdoing will remain the responsibility of the police and Electoral Commission, not the review.