Zia Yusuf was given a tough time by Victoria Derbyshire on Newsnight as she grilled him over whether there could be any remaining Russian links to Reform following Nathan Gill’s conviction.
In September, Gill – who had previously served as a UKIP MEP under Nigel Farage and as Reform’s leader in Wales – was convicted on eight counts of bribery for taking payments to make statements in favour of Russia while he was a Member of the European Parliament.
He pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019. He took payments from a pro-Russian Ukrainian MP and close associate of one of Putin’s closest allies, Viktor Medvedchuk.
READ NEXT: Meet Reform’s ‘wokest councillor’ accused of promoting DEI initiatives
During an appearance on Newsnight this week, Reform’s Yusuf was asked if there any other people in the party who “could be taking bribes from pro-Russian politicians.”
When he replied “I don’t believe so,” Derbyshire questioned whether this meant there was the possibility of continued links between Reform and Russia.
Yusuf tried to deflect the questioning by saying he had never meet or even spoken to Gill, but Derbyshire pointed out this was not the question she was asking.
She repeatedly told Yusuf she was “asking about now”, not Gill or the events of the past.
When Derbyshire asked again “could there be anyone in your party who could be taking bribes from pro-Russian politicians,” Yusuf this time replied: “No of course not.”
This prompted Derbyshire to ask how he could be so sure of this, given his change of tone.
Once again, Yusuf tried to deflect back onto his relationship with Gill, but Derbyshire was having none of it.
You can watch the exchange below.