Russia interfered in the referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union in 2016, said British Prime Minister Andrew Burnham. According to him, he received categorical confirmation on the issue after entering “Downing Street“.
“I asked if there was Russian interference in the referendum in 2016. I got a clear answer: yes, there was“, Burnham said.The Prime Minister did not specify who provided him with the information, what data it was based on and whether the alleged interference influenced the final result. His statement is a significant departure from the position of previous Conservative governments, which stated that there was no evidence of successful Russian influence on the vote.
What the British Parliament found
The referendum was held on 23 June 2016. 51.9% of voters supported leaving the EU, while 48.1% voted to remain. The Brexit process began in March 2017, and the UK formally left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
The report by the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, published in July 2020, criticised the government and the services for not seeking a full assessment of Russian actions in relation to British politics. The commission cited evidence of attempts to influence through Russian state-backed media outlets and social media accounts, but the public report did not find that these actions changed the outcome of the referendum.
The government, for its part, told parliament in 2020 that it had found no evidence of successful interference in the referendum. A year earlier, Nick Clegg, then vice president of Facebook, told the BBC that the company had analysed the data several times but had found no evidence of an external force influencing the result.
Burnham and the new Brexit controversy
The statement comes amid renewed debate about relations between Britain and the European Union. In late September, Burnham said the country could consider returning to the EU in the future and that Brexit had done more harm than good.
The prime minister called for Britain to be more open about attempts by hostile states to disrupt the political process. He also linked the topic to the spread of disinformation in other European countries, including Germany.
Sources: theguardian.com