Nigel Farage and the Reform Party have found themselves in hot water recently after one of their politicians was found guilty of accepting bribes from Russia. Or they would have done if the media had gone all in, anyway; really, the water has been tepid and shallow on most fronts.

Thankfully, there are those who are keeping the story alive, and as a result the sacked Reformer Rupert Lowe felt a need to make a statement:

I have received A LOT of questions about Nathan Gill, having sat as a Brexit Party MEP alongside him in Brussels and Strasbourg. He was also the Reform leader in Wales. For those who don’t know, he has pleaded guilty to taking pro-Russian bribes over a number of months.…

— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) October 13, 2025

Russian bribes and Farage

As Byline Times reported, it took Farage “over two weeks” to acknowledge Nathan Gill’s conviction. Gill had taken bribes from a pro-Russian Ukrainian MP and Viktor Medvedchuk, a close ally of Putin. Farage claims he was “stunned” by the revelation, and that he was they only person in Reform “that really knew him, going back a long way”. This claim is disputed by Byline Times, who wrote:

Farage’s claim that he was the “only one” in Reform UK who knew Gill contradicts the information Byline Times has received from former MEPs that Gill and Tice worked closely together during the Brexit Party era.

It’s strange that it took Farage so long, because he’s previously spoken out against individuals who take money from Russians:

The top FBI official who lead the Russia investigation into Trump has himself been arrested for taking money from a sanctioned Russian Oligarch.

The Russia Hoax was a complete disgrace — on both sides of the pond! pic.twitter.com/mzLXlsBPnL

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) January 23, 2023

Awkwardly, he also announced that the ‘Russian collusion hoax’ ended in 2023:

The Russia Hoax is finally over. The many lies told about so-called “Russian collusion” were a disgrace.

https://t.co/NVigfqHDrq pic.twitter.com/cQdUHg185f

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 16, 2023

Maybe he should have colluded with some sort of internal review – worked out what his politicians were up to.

Media reporting has very much framed Farage as being victim in all this:

Poor Nigel – nothing worse than finding out a guy who shares your worldview only supported Russia for the rubles:

So the Brexit Party MEP Nathan Gill took Russian Bribes.

All Brexit party MEPs then voted against tackling Russian propaganda (All of them, including Farage…)

Suspicious … pic.twitter.com/2ywjJPho5O

— Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) October 12, 2025

When they go Lowe

The timeline of Lowe leaving Reform is messy. The TLDR is:

Lowe began criticising Farage (seemingly in coordination with Elon Musk).Farage suggested Lowe wouldn’t be anywhere near office without Nigel’s cult of personality (a.k.a. Reform).Reform suspended Lowe and reported him to the police for ‘verbal threats’ and “serious bullying” of female staffers.Lowe described the accusations as “vexatious”.Several months of back and forth ensued.

Now, Lowe has issued the following statement (emphasis added):

I have received A LOT of questions about Nathan Gill, having sat as a Brexit Party MEP alongside him in Brussels and Strasbourg. He was also the Reform leader in Wales. For those who don’t know, he has pleaded guilty to taking pro-Russian bribes over a number of months.

Obviously, I had absolutely no idea. I was new to the European Parliament, Nathan had been there for years alongside Farage – they were very close. He was the head of the delegation of our MEPs, so with the whip ran the day-to-day affairs of our grouping and organised activity in Brussels/Strasbourg. He was one of just two MEPs from the previous term Farage allowed to stand again.

He seemed particularly interested in Russian/Ukrainian developments which I found peculiar. There was one event, right at the beginning of our term, which he asked me and other MEPs to attend. Due to his position in the grouping, I agreed. It had a very pro-Russian slant, with individuals who claimed to be close to Putin there. For obvious reasons, I did not attend another such event.

I thought his obsession with that part of the world was strange, but given his years in the Parliament and position in the party, I didn’t think there was more to it. Other MEPs also found it unusual, but we just got on with job.

So to journalists asking, there is my response.

It is disgraceful behaviour, treasonous behaviour.

I am ashamed to have ever sat alongside him.

As you can see, he’s claiming Gill was always weirdly pro-Russian, and yet Farage didn’t seem to mind. After all, he was one of only two MEPs who Farage “allowed” to run again.

People have responded to the latest intervention online:

Absolutely damning for Farage

Rupert Lowe on what he knew about Nathan Gill and his pro Russian activities as an MEP , for which Gill has now admitted to accepting bribes

Significantly Lowe makes explicit Gill’s closeness to Farage and seniority within the Brexit Group of MEPs https://t.co/LBLWjmWCDm

— Bruce McD (@brucemcd23) October 13, 2025

Probably should’ve reported your concerns then, but I am guessing that you didn’t and are now desperately trying to distance yourself from it. You’re an odious, opportunistic little man. Bin. https://t.co/AKIG9unh8c

— Lar Janus (@bloodyrollocks) October 14, 2025

Several praised Zack Polanski, who has refused to allow the establishment to flush this story down the ‘nothing to see here’ chute:

If it wasn’t for Green Party’s @ZackPolanski bringing this up on BBC Question Time last week, the vast majority of us would not have been aware of this scandal. And they say the left are the ones putting country in danger? https://t.co/WSyjgPoacF

— Andrew Johns Politics (@JohnsOnPolitics) October 13, 2025

Teflon Farage

For whatever reason, the mainstream media never seems to want to talk about Farage / Reform’s scandals:

Fiona Bruce shuts down @ZackPolanski‘s attempt to press @ZiaYusufUK over Reform UK’s links to Putin.

“Bribrary from Russia. Pretty serious for our national security.”

“There’s other things that the audience wants to talk about”, Bruce responds.#BBCQT pic.twitter.com/3a90CigFsN

— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) October 9, 2025

While Rupert Lowe is arguably one of the least credible voices on anything, it’s very interesting how he’s approached this situation. He normally has no issue going studs in, and he’s considerably more unhinged than Farage on most issues:

Your three and a half page ‘policy’ document is weak as piss, Farage. How on earth has it taken you so long to cobble this together?

This isn’t mass deportations. Your ‘plan’ barely scratches the surface. 500k deportations? It’s not enough. It’s pathetic. That needs to be…

— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) August 26, 2025

The fact that he went relatively soft on Farage suggests he feels a need to distance himself but doesn’t want this story to blow up. That’s just speculation, of course, but there’s plenty out there which isn’t, and it doesn’t paint a flattering picture of Farage or the circles he moves in:

Go on then @Nigel_Farage, keep telling us you know nothing about Russian influence…

The Farage staffer, the Russian embassy and a smear campaign against a Kremlin critichttps://t.co/MFnhWPSxgk

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) October 14, 2025

Featured image via UK Parliament

By Willem Moore

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