Bayend: Russia 'obviously' played a role in the Brexit referendum ten years ago

Andy Burnham said that Russia had indeed interfered in the Brexit referendum and warned that similar activities were taking place in France and Germany.

The Prime Minister told the podcast The Rest is Politics that after moving into No. 10 Downing Street he asked whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 referendum, adding: "The clear answer I got was: yes."

He added: "I think we have actually been in a too passive position, and we have not given the public a full understanding of the extent to which overseas forces are trying to undermine the political process."

Bayend did not elaborate further on the type or scale of Moscow's activities during the Brexit vote.

The "Brexit" advocacy group "Britain Unbound" said that Bayend's remarks were "yet another crude attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the decision taken by the British people in 2016".

The group said foreign interference in British elections was "clearly unacceptable" but added: "There is no good reason to believe that Russian interference influenced the outcome of the 2016 referendum."

"It's also insulting to suggest that voters are so gullible."

In the interview, which will be released on Monday (October 12), Beander said that during his visit to Germany last week, he discussed the issue of Russian interference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Merz).

"There is indeed misinformation and disinformation coming from Russia and flowing into German politics," he said.

He continued: "It is important to clearly document these things at this moment. I believe it will help German and French voters understand that part of the political activity is instigated by our enemy, which is Russia."

It is the first time a British prime minister has said Russia tried to influence the 2016 Brexit referendum, but there have been warnings for years about the Kremlin's attempts to exert influence on British politics.

In 2020, the Intelligence and Security Committee of the British Parliament published a report on Russian interference in British elections and referendums.

The report did not draw a clear conclusion on whether Russia had attempted to influence the outcome of the EU referendum, but criticized successive governments for failing to comprehensively assess or effectively respond to related threats.

In response, Russia's foreign minister flatly dismissed the report and called it "Russophobia."

A Kremlin spokesman said Russia would not interfere in other countries' elections.

However, the Conservative government that came into power in the same year stated that "Russian-related individuals almost certainly attempted to interfere" in the 2019 British election.

BBC Verify has tracked Russia-related disinformation campaigns, including the use of artificial intelligence to create fake videos impersonating journalists and news organizations reporting on events in Ukraine.

One of the fake news websites falsely claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky purchased a mansion named by King Charles III (King Charles III) at a discount.

Earlier this year, Vijay Rangarajan, the head of the UK Electoral Commission, told MPs that Russian-produced deepfake videos had been "widely used in elections around the world".

He added: "There is no reason to think that the UK will be an exception."

Speaking at the United Nations last month, Bayend accused Russian institutions of using "all available means to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people's fears."

He announced that the UK would set up a new center to "stem the tide of toxic disinformation".