British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Russia did interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum and warned that Moscow was doing similar things in France and Germany.
Burnham told The Rest is Politics podcast that when he first arrived in Downing Street after being elected leader of the Labor Party and appointed prime minister, he asked about possible Russian interference in that vote. “I received a clear answer: yes, this happened,” Burnham said
“I think we were generally too passive in our response to this and didn’t inform people enough about the extent to which people from abroad were trying to destabilize the political process,” he added.
Burnham did not provide further details about the nature or extent of Moscow's activities during the Brexit referendum.
The statement was met with criticism from supporters of British independence from the EU. Activist group Britain Unbound called Burnham's comments "another crude attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the decision made by the British people in 2016."
The group's statement said foreign interference in UK elections was "clearly unacceptable" but added: "There is no compelling reason to believe that the outcome of the 2016 referendum was influenced by Russian interference."
“It is also insulting to suggest that voters could be so easily duped,” activists said.
In an interview with podcast hosts due to air on Monday, Burnham said he discussed the issue of Russian interference with Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his visit to Germany earlier this week.
“There is certainly disinformation coming from Russia and influencing German policy,” he said.
The British chief of cabinet continued: “It is important now that these facts are clearly stated and I believe that this will help voters in Germany and France understand that some of these policies are being driven by our enemies, namely Russia.”
For the first time in 10 years since the referendum and after seven successive governments, the country's prime minister says that Russia tried to influence the outcome of the referendum. But warnings about the Kremlin's attempts to influence British politics are heard regularly.
In 2020, the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee published a report on Russian interference in elections and referendums in the UK.
The report was inconclusive about whether Russia was trying to influence the outcome of the EU referendum, but it criticized successive governments for failing to fully appreciate and counter the threat.
Then the Russian Foreign Ministry categorically rejected this report, calling it a manifestation of “Russophobia.” A Kremlin spokesman said Russia does not interfere in other countries' elections.
However, that same year, the UK's then Conservative government said that "Russian actors almost certainly tried to interfere" in the 2019 parliamentary elections.
The BBC's verification arm, BBC Verify, tracked Russia-linked disinformation campaigns, including the use of artificial intelligence to create fake videos. They imitate journalists and news agencies covering events in Ukraine.
Thus, one of the sites with fake news launched a canard that the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky allegedly purchased a mansion belonging to the British King Charles III at a reduced price.
Earlier this year, Vijay Rangarajan, head of the UK's Electoral Commission, told MPs that Russian deepfakes were "widely used in elections around the world". “There is no reason to believe that the UK will be an exception,” he added.
In September, speaking at the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Andy Burnham accused Russian intelligence services of using "every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and to prey on people's fears." Burnham said the UK would set up a new center to “stem the toxic tide” of disinformation.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "We are focused on ensuring the protection of our citizens and our institutions from foreign powers and their proxies seeking to threaten lives and undermine our democratic values."
