[1andrew1]

Russia and Reform UK from that unlikely source: Dan Hodges of the Daily Mail

'Yes, Reform have been on our radar for a while now, and before that Ukip,' one senior source in the British security and intelligence community told me.

'It's primarily because of the way the Russians have been attempting to infiltrate them. Gill [Former leader of Reform UK Wales] wasn't an isolated case. 'An example of this relates to Gill's 'handler' Voloshyn, who was himself being managed by a key ally of Vladimir Putin called Vladislav Surkov. Nicknamed 'the Grey Cardinal', Surkov was in charge of Putin's destabilisation operations in the West.'Surkov had a list of Western politicians who were deemed to be potentially sympathetic to Russia, and Gill was on it,' a second security services source told me. 'But he wasn't alone. So was another Reform MEP.'

A separate reason Reform may have come to the attention of the British law and order and security establishment is via Cottrell's links to the former Iron Curtain state of Montenegro. Cottrell is based there, and has been visited by Farage and other members of the senior Reform leadership.

While there is no suggestion that Cottrell is involved in such activities, the state is also regarded by UK officials as a major hub for money laundering, people trafficking and – crucially – Russian intelligence operations.

As another figure close to the intelligence community told me: 'Montenegro sits at the sweet spot for the Russians. It's heavily integrated with a lot of major EU and Western institutions.

For all Reform's protestations of innocence, the allegations of sleaze – and worse – keep mounting.

Meanwhile, the party's various self-pitying conspiracy theories keep falling down. The reality is Gill was indeed an agent of Russian influence. And it stretches credibility to breaking point to believe Putin's vast intelligence apparatus was solely focused on a single, obscure MEP from Llangefni.

Then there is 'Posh George', who sits at the centre of the current Reform sleaze storm. He was not initially a person of interest to the UK intelligence services, but first came to the attention of law and order agencies in the United States.

The Federal operation that cornered Cottrell began in 2014. That was two years before Brexit. A full decade before Farage stunned the political establishment by storming into Parliament and soaring to the top of the polls.

To construct this masterful operation to – in Jenrick's words – 'Stop Reform from delivering the change that this country so desperately needs' – the British security establishment didn't just have to be Machiavellian, they had to be psychic. 'We haven't been tracking Ukip and Reform,' one senior security official explained. 'We've been tracking the Russians tracking Ukip and Reform.

'In the beginning, Putin thought they were just a useful potential asset in his disruption and propaganda efforts, which is why they targeted Gill. It's only in the last 18 months that they've seriously started to regard them as a potential party of government.'

https://www.dailymail.com/news/artic...in-HODGES.html