U.K. officials ‘avoided’ looking into Russian meddling, report says
LONDON— A long-awaited report on Russian meddling in British politics criticized the U.K. government for failing to investigate whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, with the document’s authors describing the lack of curiosity about this threat to democracy as a major failure at the heart of power.
The report from Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee also painted a damning portrait of Russian involvement in British society more generally, including attempts to influence government policy by wealthy Russians with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the British financiers who help them.
Stewart Hosie, a committee member and member of Parliament for the opposition Scottish National Party, accused the government of “actively avoiding” allegations of Russian meddling.
The panel called for the government to appoint a commission to look into the issue and report back to the public.
The government stalled publication of the report for more than seven months, with the main opposition Labour Party suggesting that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party were trying to avoid further questions about links between Russia and the pro-Brexit campaign.
Johnson helped lead the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
In a 20-page response, the government denied that it had “badly underestimated” the Russian threat.
The government rejected the call for a commission to investigate alleged Russian meddling during the Brexit referendum.
“We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU Referendum,” the statement said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed the committee’s findings, calling them “Russophobia.”