Putin’s attempt to influence Brexit vote failed, says minister
Putin’s attempt to influence Brexit vote failed, says minister
Pieter SnepvangersMon, October 12, 2026 at 9:41 AM UTC
0
Andy Burnham claimed Britain has evidence that Russia interfered in the Brexit vote - Anadolu/Sefa KaracanVladimir Putin’s attempt to influence the Brexit referendum failed, a minister has claimed.
Vladimir Putin’s attempt to influence the Brexit referendum failed, a minister has claimed.
Stephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, said the Kremlin “had not succeeded” in its alleged attempt to undermine Britain’s elections.
His comments followed Andy Burnham’s claim on Sunday that there was evidence Russia had interfered in the 2016 referendum, and that it was important to put its role “clearly on the record”.
The Prime Minister did not say whether any attempts had succeeded, who had carried out the assessment that uncovered them or whether he had seen any evidence to support the claim.
On Monday, Mr Doughty, the Middle East minister, insisted that the Kremlin had failed in its attempt to manipulate the 2016 vote, adding that the result to leave the EU was valid.
Asked whether he believed Russia had interfered in the Brexit referendum, he told LBC: “Well, ultimately they certainly attempted to.”
Pressed on a second occasion, Mr Doughty said: “We understand the result was the result. We know what the result was. I don’t think they have succeeded in their efforts. I don’t think they have succeeded in their attempts to undermine our elections.”
The Prime Minister revealed on an episode of the Rest is Politics podcast, which was released on Sunday, that he had asked for an assessment of the Kremlin’s role in the 2016 vote when he entered Downing Street over the summer.
He said he was given “the clear answer that, yes, there was”.
Advertisement
Mr Burnham’s accusation will fuel speculation that he is planning to use Russia’s alleged interference as a pretext for rerunning the referendum.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to put Russia’s role “clearly on the record” and to help voters in Germany and France – where far-Right parties are on course for victory – to understand that “some of this politics is instigated via our enemies”.
He added: “I think we’ve been too much on the back foot on that actually and we haven’t informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas.”
When Mr Doughty was asked to explain the evidence supplied to the Government, he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well, you will understand I’m not going to comment on the detail of what we understand Russia to have been attempting to do.”
He added that the Government was aware the Kremlin spent £1.5bn a year on a disinformation campaign aimed at influencing foreign elections.
Asked again to provide evidence of interference specifically in the Brexit vote, Mr Doughty failed to mention the 2016 referendum.
He instead referred to the conviction of Nathan Gill. The former leader of Reform UK in Wales is serving a 10-year sentence for accepting Russian bribes between 2018 and 2019, more than two years after the referendum result.
Andy Burnham met German chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin last week - Reuters/Lisi Niesner
During his conference speech last month, Mr Burnham announced he would review all options for Britain’s future relationship with the EU, including full membership of the bloc or reentering the customs union or single market.
Those plans, which would break a Labour manifesto pledge if he pursued them before the next election, have been interpreted as an attempt to win back Liberal Democrat voters, and set a major dividing line with the Conservatives and Reform.
Mr Burnham has previously hinted that Russia was responsible for the Brexit result, telling an audience at the UN General Assembly that the Kremlin interfered in the 2019 general election, and had sought to spread “division” and “despair” on social media.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
