'This is treason': Reform UK councillor slams ex-Welsh leader over pro-Russia bribes
David Buckley, Reform UK Councillor for Datchet and Chair of Reform Windsor, told LBC's Matthew Wright that people need to call Nathan Gill's actions "what they are"
A Reform UK councillor has branded Nathan Gill a "traitor" who should have been jailed for life, after the ex-Welsh leader was handed more than 10 years in prison for accepting tens of thousands of pounds in pro-Russia bribes.
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David Buckley, Reform UK Councillor for Datchet and Chair of Reform Windsor, told LBC's Matthew Wright that people need to call Nathan Gill's actions "as what they are... this was treasonable."
Gill, 52, was paid thousands of pounds to give interviews on Ukrainian TV in favour of a key Putin ally and to make speeches in the European Parliament.
He has admitted to eight counts of bribery between 2018 and 2019.
Gill served as the leader of UKIP in Wales from 2014 to 2016, and Reform UK Wales in 2021.
Read more: Ex Reform leader in Wales jailed for 10.5 years after receiving £30k in pro-Russia bribes
Gill also represented North Wales in the National Assembly - now Welsh Parliament - between 2016 and 2017.
Prosecutors said they believed Gill benefited to the order of £30,000 as a result of his offending.
Mr Buckley said: "I think the person should have been sent down for life. I actually feel this is treason. And the last person who was charged with treason in this country was hung in ... 1946, was actually hung.
"I actually take it further, you know, as an individual and to win back the trust and confidence of the people, we need to see these things as what they are. We need to call it out. This was treasonable."
William Joyce, also known as Lord Haw-Haw, was the last person to be hanged for treason in the UK in 1946.
Joyce, who was a member of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, was convicted of high treason in 1945 for broadcasting Nazi propaganda and taking Nazi German citizenship during World War Two.
Mr Buckley added that Gill was in Reform for three months but that he was "easily corrupted because he needed the money."
He said that people have tried to corrupt him in the past, but it hasn't worked because he doesn't have a need for anything.
Mr Buckley said: "He was involved with politics for a long time.
"His need was great and he was easily corrupted because he needed the money. He was in Reform for three months.
"He stood down in 2021, and the party dealt with what they needed to deal with at that time."
Before joining Reform UK, Gill was a member of the UK Independence Party, then followed Nigel Farage to the Brexit Party.
Gill's relationship with Mr Farage was one of "work colleagues", said Mr Buckley.
"There's no evidence that he's Nigel's best friend or they sit out and they entertain each other every single day.
"They're work colleagues."