(The Turkish Post) – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit vote, in a podcast interview whose excerpts were published on Sunday, Oct. 11, and said he had asked officials about it when he took office in July.
“I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was,” Burnham said. He is believed to be the first British prime minister to say publicly that Russia interfered in the referendum that took the United Kingdom out of the European Union.
Burnham did not say who gave him the assessment or what evidence supported it. He also did not say whether the interference affected the result of the Brexit vote.
Burnham wants the Brexit vote finding on the record
Burnham said he was making the finding public to warn voters elsewhere in Europe. “These things are important now to put clearly on the record,” he said.
He said doing so would help voters in Germany and France understand “that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.”
Burnham said the British government had not done enough to tell the public about attempts from abroad to disrupt the country’s political process. He called for more openness about interference by hostile states.
In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September, he cited evidence that Moscow had tried to interfere in Britain’s 2019 general election.
In July 2020, then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Russian actors had almost certainly sought to interfere in that election by spreading leaked documents on British-U.S. trade talks online.
Russian interference in German politics and the AfD
Burnham said he discussed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a recent visit to Berlin. He said he told Merz: “we need to support you in taking on the threat that you face.”
According to Burnham, Merz told him the AfD is clearly linked to Russia. Burnham added that the party was “funded, I believe” by Moscow. “There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics,” he said.
Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in elections and referendums abroad and has accused Britain of “anti-Russian hysteria.”
A 2020 report on the Brexit vote
In July 2020, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee published a report on Russian activity in Britain. The committee had completed the report in 2019, and its release was held back until after that year’s general election. It said the government had failed to fully assess the possible impact of Russian state-run media and “troll” accounts on the EU referendum.
The committee also found that Russia had sought to influence the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.
The government of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected the committee’s call for an assessment of Russian interference in the Brexit vote. It said it had seen no evidence of successful interference in the referendum.
British voters chose to leave the European Union by 52% to 48% on June 23, 2016. The United Kingdom formally left the bloc on Jan. 31, 2020.
Burnham reopens the debate on ties with the EU
Burnham, a former mayor of Greater Manchester, became prime minister in July.
At his Labour Party conference speech in September, he set out plans to build a political consensus on Britain’s future relationship with the European Union. He said Britain could consider rejoining the bloc and has not ruled out putting a pledge to rejoin in the party’s manifesto for the next general election.
His remarks on Russian interference come as he explores closer ties with Brussels.
France is due to hold its next presidential election in April 2027. In Germany, the AfD is the largest opposition party in the federal parliament.
