Cancelled mayoral elections

Road Traffic (No. 2)

Road Traffic

Found: When you look at panel shows, there always seems to be Zia Yusuf or Nigel Farage on there.

Found: When you look at panel shows, there always seems to be Zia Yusuf or Nigel Farage on there.

<p>Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, I'm sure that you will share my disgust with the former leader of Reform in Wales, Nathan Gill, a former Member of this Parliament, who was sentenced last week to 10 and a half years in prison for accepting bribes to make pro-Russian speeches in the European Parliament. Let's remind ourselves that Nigel Farage has previously described Nathan Gill as, and I quote, an 'honest, decent, honourable man'. He's also spoken, of course, of his admiration for Vladimir Putin, and peddled the Russian propaganda line that the west provoked the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's very clear that Reform is a risk to our national security. We need to protect and defend our democracy and our country from Russian interference and threats. That's why I've backed increased spending on defence&nbsp;and our intelligence services, and I hope very much for more in tomorrow's UK budget. Can you tell us what you are hoping for in tomorrow's UK budget, and what have you specifically requested in the budget for Wales?</p>

<p>I'm grateful to you for that response, First Minister. You will know, as I do, that being elected to this place to represent people and to stand up for our constituents is an honour and a privilege and a responsibility that all of us need to take incredibly seriously. That is why it was particularly sickening to see on Friday the former leader of Reform UK in Wales jailed for 10.5 years for spouting pro-Russian propaganda and accepting money in order to do it. Now, we know that Russia in particular is a country that looks to involve itself in western democracies, involve itself in our discourse, and I am concerned that Reform UK is a party that is not taking this seriously enough. Initially, Reform's response was to pretend that they'd never heard of Nathan Gill, their former leader in Wales. And then, just yesterday, Nigel Farage was asked how he was dealing with this in his party, and do you know what his response was? He said he'd asked everyone in the office, and no-one else was accepting bribes from Russia. It is absolutely unacceptable and ridiculous. People have a right to know, I think, if this party in particular is a soft target for this sort of foreign interference. So, do you agree with me that now is the time for a full and proper investigation into Russian interference in British politics?</p>

<p>There has, of course, already been an inquiry into Russian influence in our politics. It was commissioned by Boris Johnson, who then refused to publish it. The current UK Government also has not published this report, and I think many of us here would want you to write to the UK Government to ask that that report is published, so that we do know what the Russian Government has sought to do to involve itself and undermine our democracy and our politics. But the Russian asset who was imprisoned last week sat here in this place as well. I've already asked the Presiding Officer for an inquiry into whether any public resources here were used to support the activities of this Russian asset. I hope that we will be able to have an inquiry into whether we've seen our politics undermined by Russia. But, certainly, we need to ensure now that the security services and others investigate what happened around Nathan Gill to ensure that other people who spoke up on behalf of Putin in the European Parliament—and I mean Nigel Farage, as well as others—were not in any way linked to the Russian Government, and we need to be assured that our politics was not in receipt of Putin's dirty cash.</p>

<p>First Minister, I attended the sentencing hearing of Nathan Gill, because I thought it was important to hear the evidence that led up to what his engagement was. It is absolutely clear that, by 2018, as the judges said, he already had a well-established link with senior pro-Russian politicians who were paying for him to act as an agent. That means that during that period of 18 months when he was in this Senedd much of his time—it might explain why he wasn't here very much—was actually engaged in that sort of activity. Now, he was Nigel Farage's right-hand man for two decades. The question I have is, actually: who actually established those contacts that he had with&nbsp;Voloshyn and with&nbsp;Medvedchuk? Who was that, and who are the ongoing contacts that he was developing? It seems to me that those are questions that not only are still the subject of a police investigation, but also that we actually need to know, because that's the way that infiltration of politics actually operates.</p>
<p>Now, the judge said that what he did posed a risk to democracy, which is why it is directly relevant to us. There have been calls for an inquiry. The Prime Minister has called upon Nigel Farage himself to investigate, and we know his response has been inadequate. I wonder if you would give support to, I think, many others who are now saying that it is actually necessary for UK Government to have a very specific inquiry into the activities that have been taking place, the people that are involved, and those who actually are seeking to influence and undermine our democratic processes.</p>