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... 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". ...

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." ...