Dec. 16 (UPI) — The United Kingdom has commissioned a review of outside political influence into British politicians in the country after Nathan Gill was jailed for accepting bribes from Russia.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed announced the review to Parliament Tuesday.
“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 delivered a deadly nerve agent attack on U.K. soil, killing a British citizen.
“This conduct is a stain on our democracy. This independent review will advance this government’s work to remove that stain.”
In November, Gill was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting around $52,000 from Russia in return for making pro-Russia statements to the European Union parliament. Gil is the former leader of Reform U.K. in Wales.
Philip Rycroft, a civil servant who was the permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union, will lead the review. The inquiry will be completed by the end of March, and the findings will be used to craft next year’s Elections and Democracy bill.
“It is right that we now take a step back to look at how we can protect our democracy against such appalling crimes. … We must learn the lessons so that this cannot happen again,” The Guardian reported Reed said.
In July, the government published a plan called “Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections,” which Reed said “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,” he said.
The review will conduct an “in-depth assessment of the current financial rules and safeguards and offer recommendations to further mitigate risks from foreign political interference.”
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said his party welcomed the review but asked the government to make sure it investigated the influence of China on the Labour Party.
Reed replied that it would investigate “all potential sources of malign foreign financial interference.”
South Africans honor Nelson Mandela
Large crowds gather outside Nelson Mandela’s former home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton to pay their respects on December 7, 2013. Mandela, former South African president and a global icon of the anti-apartheid movement, died on December 5 at age 95 after complications from a recurring lung infection. Photo by Charlie Shoemaker/UPI | License Photo