BRITAIN IS PUTIN’S TOP TARGET
● Ministers ‘took eye off ball’ over Moscow meddling ● ‘No-one knows’ if they interfered in Brexit vote ● Boris slammed for delaying report
VLADIMIR Putin sees Britain as a “top target” and the UK Government “underestimated the threat” of Russia, a bombshell report has revealed.
The long-awaited report on Russia’s activities in the UK has concluded that the Government “took its eye off the ball” and failed to respond to Moscow’s threat.
The UK government “actively avoided” looking for Russian interference during the EU and Scottish independence referendums, the report concluded.
The Intelligence and Security Committee’s report into Russian activity in the UK called for “immediate action” to tackle it.
But it said the Government was
“playing catch-up” after failing to act sooner.
Committee members also criticised Boris Johnson for the delay in the report’s publication.
Downing Street was accused of holding back the committee’s report ahead of last December’s UK general election – which it has denied.
Attacks
But speaking at a press conference to launch the report, one of the ISC’s committee members, Kevan Jones, criticised the prime minister for not signing it off sooner, saying there was “no reason for delay”.
After the report was published, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted: “We’ve been clear that Russia must desist from its attacks on the UK and our allies.
“We will be resolute in defending our country, our democracy and our values from such Hostile State Activity.”
The ISC inquiry covers a number of topics – including disinformation campaigns, cyber tactics and Russian expatriates in the UK – saying the UK was a “top target” for the state.
But much of the “highly sensitive” detail will not be published due to fears Russia could use the evidence to threaten the UK.
The report said Russian influence in the UK was now “the new normal” and said many governments had welcomed oligarchs from the country with “open arms”.
The committee went on to say the UK was “clearly a target” for disinformation campaigns around its elections, but the issue was described as a “hot potato” – with no one organisation taking a lead to tackle it.
ISC committee member Stewart Hosie also said no-one in Government wanted to touch the issue of Russian interference with a “10-foot pole” and no-one knew if Russia had tried to interfere with the 2016 EU referendum “because they did not want to know”.
He told assembled media: “There should have been an assessment of Russian interference in the EU referendum and there must now be one.
“And the public must be told the results of that assessment.”
The report also said that there had been “credible open source commentary” that suggested Russia had tried to influence the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.