Nathan Gill to pocket ‘generous’ EU pension after completing prison sentence for accepting Russian bribes
Luke James, Brussels
The disgraced former leader of Reform UK in Wales, Nathan Gill, will remain eligible to start receiving a “generous” European Union pension less than two months after completing his sentence for accepting Russian bribes, Nation.Cymru can reveal.
The former member of the European Parliament was sentenced to ten years and six months’ imprisonment at the Old Bailey yesterday after admitting to receiving at least £40,000 in return for peddling pro-Russian propaganda.
It means his sentence will finish 46 days short of his 63rd birthday, when he will become eligible to start receiving a pension worth more than €25,000 a year – around £22,000 at today’s exchange rate.
Gill also remains eligible for a much smaller Senedd pension. The situation has sparked anger among politicians and campaigners in Brussels and Cardiff who told Nation.Cymru the rules should be changed to prevent similar cases.
Nick Aiossa, Director at Transparency International EU, said: “EU citizens expect the actions of their elected representatives to have consequences. There is no reason any MEP who abuses their office, and accepts bribes, should be able to receive a European taxpayer-funded pension.”
During Gill’s sentencing, the court heard how he had parroted almost verbatim statements which had been prepared for him by Oleg Voloshyn, a former pro-Russian politician in Ukraine who has been sanctioned by the US Treasury for acting as a “pawn” of the Russian secret service and is wanted for high treason in Ukraine.
Nation.Cymru was first to reveal in 2023 that Voloshyn was at the centre of a pro-Russian lobbying network that organised multiple trips to Ukraine and Moldova for Gill, including to the headquarters of pro-Russian media in Ukraine that he would go on to advocate for in the European Parliament.
Gill was arrested at Manchester airport in 2021 while on his way to Moscow. The FBI helped prove incriminating messages found on his phone were with Voloshyn. They ranged from coded references to bribes, such as the offer of “Xmas gifts”, to explicit offers of “5k” in exchange for political favours.
The damage done to the reputation of the European Parliament should mean Gill is excluded from its pension scheme, according to a member of its budgetary control committee.
‘Corruption’
Daniel Freund, a Green MEP from Germany, told Nation.Cymru: “Anyone who has been legally convicted of corruption in connection with their work in the European Parliament should, of course, be punished for it.
“And we need to look at pensions as well: if someone has seriously damaged the Parliament’s reputation, they should not continue to receive a generous pension from the European Parliament.”
The European Parliament said it has recently strengthened rules on integrity and transparency.
However, its rules state all former MEPs who served for at least one year are eligible for life to a pension “equal to 3.5% of their salary for each full year in office and one twelfth thereof for each further full month.” As Gill served five years and seven months, he is eligible to receive around €2,135 a month.
Members of the Senedd receive 2% of their salary for each year they serve. Gill sat as a UK Independence Party and then independent member between May 2016 and December 2017. That would make him eligible for a total pension of around £2,000.
‘Disqualified’
Mick Antoniw, a Welsh Labour MS and former chief legal adviser to the Welsh Government, said the rules should be changed to exclude people found guilty of serious misconduct.
“Someone who has abused their position to take a criminal financial advantage should be disqualified from pension entitlement at the expense of public funds,” he said.
The Senedd pension scheme is covered by the Pensions Act 1995 which includes limited scope for the removal of eligibility, such as convictions for treason or under the Official Secrets Act or National Security Act.
However, the Department for Work and Pensions said trustees of a pension scheme, including that of the Senedd, could include ‘forfeiture’ rules in cases of gross misconduct. No such rules are currently included in the Senedd’s scheme.
Similar rules are included in the pension schemes of police officers, who can be stripped of their pensions in cases of misconduct to prevent a loss of public trust in the service.
Daniel Greenberg, the UK Parliament’s commissioner for standards, said last year that a House of Commons review could see MPs convicted of serious crimes could lose their parliamentary pension.
“The House may in due course wish to consider, in particular, ensuring that where misconduct consists or results in a loss to the public purse, the possibilities of recovering the loss from pension benefits are the same for Members as for other public officials,” he told the Telegraph.
Nation.Cymru asked the Senedd’s Commissioner for Standards, Douglas Bain, whether similar rules would be considered in Wales but he declined to comment.
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Disgraceful, but then that’s how the law works. If the sentence had stated he lose that money then so be it; it didn’t.
English law doesn’t apply in Brussels. Sovereignty is a two way street.
The court had no power to stop his pensions whatever the judge chose to say.
Precisely my point.
Stop his MEP and AM pensions and all those who voted for Gill can stump up to replace his pension money instead.
It would only be fair. If the polluter pays then so should those who chose to elect him.
As a general principle it would make for better informed voters if there were real personal financial repercussions to which box an X was scratched in.. .
Revolting
He gets £22k a year pension for 6 years as an MEP?
Talk about a gravy train
One of many lax and wasteful features of the EU. Elected representatives should have a far more modest pension provision as it would remind them of how most of their electorate have to get by.
Proper patriot.
Trawled through the less hysterical press yesterday to see if they took an interest. Most did. Not a mention in the Telegraph. See the Daily Mail is now buying it.
Assuming he serves about half the sentence there are five years for the relevant institutions to change the rules. Plenty of time even for slow lawmaking processes. Even Reform ought to be keen in the Senedd case, if Gill was the only one being paid for pro-Russian opinions rather than saying what he thinks
Confiscation of his assets to the value of his financial benefit from his criminal activities would have been a good idea.
Works for drug dealers!
The first guy Farage pardons. Do the time, say nothing…
It’s public money. Surely the trustees of both the EU and Senedd pension scheme are responsible for protecting public money. Otherwise what’s the point of them? It’s difficult to understand how the terms of any pension scheme involving public money does not have the foresight to legally protect that money in the event of convicted criminal activity directly associated with the post generating that pension entitlement!? Who drafted the legal terms?
Who? Most likely politicians who are usually found feathering their own nests. Not surprised, are you?
Is it up to the Senedd’s standards for the Commissioner of Standards, Douglas Bain to merely decline to comment on something with obvious public interest? Surely not?
Yes, good question. Why is Douglas Bain remaining quiet on this issue?
They’ve got ten and a half years to sort this out. No excuses if it hasn’t been rectified by then.
There’s no reason why he should loose his Senedd pension. As unsavoury as his actions are they were nothing to do with his 2016-2017 tenure as an AM.
MEP’s pension. May it needs to be docked.
Regarding his getting his pension shortly after he’s released this is wrong. While he was sentenced to 10.5 years in reality he’ll serve half that so will have five years to wait until he turns 63.
Is Simon Thomas still eligible for a MP/AMs pension?
There was a Reform UK no mark on LBC this morning suggesting Gill had a ‘need’ (being financial hardship) which was responsible for him being tempted to take the bung and that anyone who doesn’t have that ‘need’ would not dream of allowing themselves to be corrupted. Anyone buying this? Most corrupt people have greed not need. What an absolute d**khead! Reform UK to the letter.
The various laws etc to prevent him getting his pension etc will never be changed – turkeys don’t vote etc. It’s endemic across the political/public sector – fail (in whatever way) and you’ll still get your chunky pension. Look at the numerous scandals at Betsi Cadwaladr NHS Trust. It’s been going on for a decade; a revolving door of incompetence and not one person will lose their pension. Same with those who failed to stop Neil Foden through sheer incompetence. Nothing changes.
MEPs would definitely vote for a specific rule to cancel pensions for anyone convicted of cavorting with rogue states. It would look very suspicious otherwise. Shame we don’t have any influence to influence this.
UKIP/Reform and Farages best mate taking our coin as well as Russian coin.
Reform have a type.
Gullible!
HMRC should be able to claw some of this back as he (probably) didn’t declare income from his russian paymasters! It should be an £80k fine (200%) plus interest payments, probably close to £100k now. And possibly some extra jail time on top of the 10.5 years he has already got