Plaid Cymru MP criticises Reform UK's 'absence' during debate on Russian interference

Ella Groves

A Plaid Cymru MP has criticised Reform UK for being "absent" from a parliamentary debate on Russian interference.

The accusation comes in the wake of the jailing of Reform UKs former Welsh leader, Nathan Gill, for “treachery.”

Speaking on 9 February during a Westminster Hall debate, the Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion Preseli, Ben Lake said the scale of public concern in Wales about foreign interference was clearly reflected in Wales having the highest numbers of signatories to the petition that triggered the debate.

He said: "Wales is one of the areas that has secured the highest concentration of signatories across the entirety of the UK. It will come as no surprise to anybody that the reason for that interest and level of concern in Wales is the antics and treachery of the former leader of Reform UK in Wales, Mr Nathan Gill."

Mr Gill was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison after admitting to taking bribes in exchange for promoting pro-Russian positions in speeches and media interviews while serving as a Member of the European Parliament.

The Plaid Cymru MP added: "As I think everybody will agree, the man has committed treachery for £40,000, so we must ask serious questions about his integrity and that of his party, whose members I notice are absent from today’s debate."

Mr Lake also warned that the upcoming Senedd election in May could be held under laws that are not yet strong enough to prevent foreign interference.

As such he called on the UK Government to act to implement new protections for UK democracy and told MPs that, while it may not be possible to pass new legislation before elections in Wales and elsewhere in the UK in May, ministers must be ready to act immediately once the UK Government-commissioned review into foreign political interference is published.

Speaking in Westminster Mr Lake said: “I want to make two broad points. The first is to explain why it is so important that we waste no time in implementing measures in response to the findings of the review that the Government have rightly called for and initiated.

"I understand the review will report its findings in March. I plead with the Government Minister to ensure that the findings are acted on as soon as possible, so as to preserve the integrity of our democracy.

"Sadly, it might not be possible to bring about any legislative changes in time for the elections in Wales and other parts of the UK in May this year. Nevertheless, it is important that we do not waste any time so that further elections are not influenced in any way by the scourge of Russian interference.

“I also ask the Minister that, as part of the review’s considerations, we look at the egregious loopholes in our current laws that the Russian state was able to exploit by funnelling money through to political actors and traitors in the UK for their own ends.

"I would like his reassurance that one particular device and mechanism being examined is the creation of Welsh limited partnerships. It is a subject that a whole host of investigative journalists have written about in some detail, and which I would very much like to hear the Government state that they are looking at.

"Such devices are created in Moscow in Russia and are then used to funnel money into our political discourse and political actors who try to interfere and influence our debates in malign ways that are very difficult for us to spot, or at least not very easy for the Electoral Commission and other authorities to act on effectively.

“I will end by reflecting on why that is so important. The Russian state is trying to target society and democracy in western countries. We should not be so naive as to think that it is not happening here in the UK.

“The strategic defence review of June last year concluded that we are under daily attack. When we talk about political interference, whether it is Russian, Iranian or Chinese for that matter, we should place that in the broader context of other hybrid warfare tactics.

"We need to consider that while those countries are perhaps flooding our social media feeds with disinformation generated by armies of bots, or trying directly to bribe some willing fools in our political environment, they are paving the way to undermining and corroding trust in political institutions and authorities such that we are even more vulnerable to the direct attacks they may launch, such as the terrible poisonings in Salisbury back in 2018, the arson attack back in 2024 or indeed the almost constant daily threat that these mysterious Russian research ships pose to our critical subsea infrastructure.

“By allowing political interference to continue, we risk undermining the public’s trust in all our institutions and, indeed, in the very integrity of our politics.”

A government spokesperson said: "We are taking tough action to make the UK the hardest possible target for foreign interference.

"We have launched a new action plan to disrupt hostile activity, issued an espionage alert to parliamentarians, and commissioned an independent review into foreign financial interference in our democratic processes."