\n<\/p>\n
Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts accused Farage of “pandering to his own ego and squandering taxpayers’ money in the process”.<\/p>\n
Asked about the Cottrell report, Thomas said: “I don’t know the ins and outs of these donations.<\/p>\n
“I do know that Nigel needs 24-hour security. I’ve been out there on a campaign trail with him. He needs it, it’s not cheap.”<\/p>\n
When he was asked if he would have accepted money from a convicted criminal to help with his security, he said: “Well, if it was the only option for me to have security that I badly needed, I would consider it, yes.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been in a similar position at times during the Welsh campaign where my family were under threat.<\/p>\n
“So I can see why somebody would take a donation to make sure that they and their family were safe.”<\/p>\n
Asked if the story passed the “sniff test”, he added: “Yeah, it does. I absolutely support Nigel 100%.”<\/p>\n
Thomas said Farage was “doing the right thing”. <\/p>\n
“He’s bringing this issue to a head. He’s faced an onslaught in the media. It’s now affecting his family,” he added.<\/p>\n
“He’s putting his personal reputation, his political integrity, to the people of Clacton, and the people who he represents.”<\/p>\n
He said the public was “fed up of this continuous onslaught with Nigel”. <\/p>\n
“They’ve gone after him with what he said when he was 15, now they are going at him on this.”<\/p>\n
Later, on Radio Wales Breakfast<\/a>, Thomas accused the BBC of “publishing misleading headlines” and asking “gotcha questions” about a hypothetical situation.<\/p>\n “There are caveats,” he said. “If I was in Nigel’s position and I need security and a friend of mine has offered to pay for that – yes, if the friend has got a past, I can understand why he has taken that money.<\/p>\n “Fortunately I’m not in the same position as Nigel, I’m not under the same level of threat as Nigel and I don’t have friends who would offer me that kind of money quite frankly. So it’s pointless asking me these questions.”<\/p>\n Conservative shadow Wales Secretary Mims Davies said it was “just over two years” since Labour’s former first minister Vaughan Gething was forced to resign<\/a> after taking donations from a firm run by a man convicted of environmental offences<\/a>.<\/p>\n “So it defies belief at a time when Nigel Farage is facing serious questions over his \u00a35 million pound gift from a Thai based crypto billionaire Reform Welsh Leader Dan Thomas MS gives this bizarre answer.<\/p>\n “We all want our politicians and their families to be kept safe and protected but it says everything about Reform’s judgement that they would consider accepting money from criminals.”<\/p>\n Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, one of Thomas’ backbenchers, said it would be “interesting” to see how the by-election played out.<\/p>\n She refused to comment on whether it was a gimmick, but said: “Some people may think that. Some people might not”.<\/p>\n The Reform MS said: “It’s Nigel Farage versus Count Binface. Constitutionally this is quite a remarkable constitutional thing to have happened, if you look at it from that point of view.<\/p>\n “I think political observers around the country will be revelling in the chance to see how the by-election plays out.”<\/p>\n A Plaid Cymru spokesperson accused Dan Thomas of being “out of touch” and “happy to defend his party leader’s failings – proving he is just another one of Farage’s yes men”.<\/p>\n Labour said Dan Thomas was being “trotted out to deflect the blame” from Farage.<\/p>\n Saville Roberts said: “By calling for a by-election, Reform UK’s leader is only pandering to his own ego and squandering taxpayers’ money in the process. <\/p>\n “Peel away the rhetoric, and today’s [Tuesday’s] attention-seeking exercise is little more than a last-ditch attempt at gaming the system in order to scuttle away from the cold light of impartial scrutiny.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n