UK’s Burnham says Russia interfered in 2016 Brexit vote

Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK is “clear” there was Russian interference in the Brexit referendum.

He said that when he entered No 10 Downing Street a few months ago, he had asked whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU and was given “the clear answer that yes there was”.

The prime minister said he believes it is important to put this “clearly on the record” to help voters in Germany and France understand that “some of this politics is instigated via our enemies”, amid the rise of far-right parties in those countries.

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee found in 2020 that the government failed to fully assess the impact Russian state-run media and “troll” accounts could have had on the EU referendum.

Burnham, speaking to The Rest Is Politics podcast to be released on Monday, said he spoke to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about the threat from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party when they met in Berlin this week.

As Merz struggles with the challenge of recent regional election successes for the AfD, Burnham said: “One thing I did say to Chancellor Merz … is we need to support you in taking on the threat that you face and particularly the type of politics that you’re facing.

“You know he was saying to me that the AfD are clearly linked to Russia, funded I believe.”

He added: “There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics.”

Burnham took aim at Russian information warfare during a speech to the UN General Assembly last month, saying at the time there was evidence Moscow tried to interfere with the 2019 general election.

He told the podcast: “I asked the question coming to Downing Street, well, was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia? I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was.”

“These things are important now to put clearly on the record and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia,” the prime minister 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.”

Burnham set out plans in his recent Labour conference speech to find political consensus on the UK’s future relationship with Brussels and has left open the possibility of a future manifesto pledge to rejoin the bloc.