BORIS: NO WAY RUSSIA RIGGED BREXIT VOTE
BORIS Johnson yesterday dismissed claims the EU referendum was rigged by Russia.
An explosive report on Moscow’s meddling in British
politics was released yesterday but Downing Street said the Prime Minister is “absolutely” confident the result of the 2016 poll was fair with “no evidence” of interference.
Brexiteers said the findings of the report showed that claims Russia influenced the vote to Leave were a “hoax”.
But the bombshell probe warned that Britain has “underestimated” the threat posed by Moscow for too long and is “clearly a target for Russian disinformation”.
The Intelligence and Security Committee found wealthy Russians linked to Vladimir Putin have weaved their way into all corners of the British establishment.
Oligarchs flocked to the UK after successive governments welcomed them and their money with “open arms”, it said.
The ISC said there were “credible” open source studies that suggested Russia tried to influence the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.
Committee member Kevan Jones admitted there was “no evidence” that Moscow attempted to influence the EU referendum – but insisted it was only because the Government did not try to find out if it had.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU referendum.
“Our intelligence and security agencies produce regular assessments of the threat posed by hostile state activities, including any potential interference in past or current UK democratic processes.”
The heavily redacted report was drawn up under the chairmanship of Remainsupporting politician Dominic Grieve.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said the findings come after “years of lies and smears” from Remain supporters and politicians.
He said yesterday: “There is no evidence of Russian involvement with Leave.EU or me in the referendum. It was all a hoax.Apologies are now required.” Tory Andrew Bridgen said: “For all but the most determined Remoaner, surely people must accept the referendum result and the several general elections since that show the UK public’s undiminished appetite to leave the European Union.
“There was disinformation, from all the major political parties and the European Union, of the dire consequences if the British people even dared to vote to leave the European Union.
“As history shows, none of it was true.” Fellow Tory Peter Bone said: “There are still a few Remainer diehards that are still desperately trying to prove that Russia rigged the EU referendum.
Money
“Nobody seriously thinks that the referendum was influenced by outside money or Russia.
“It didn’t happen, Leave won fair and square and the Remainers really have got a very bad case of sour grapes.” The ISC said it did
not try to assess the “impact” of Russia’s alleged bid to influence the 2016 Brexit vote because it would be “difficult, if not impossible” to do so.
In a 20-page response, the Government rejected calls for an investigation now into the 2016 poll.
The report was unveiled at a press conference by ISC member Stewart Hosie.
It found that Russian influence has become the “new normal”.
Wealthy Russians decamped to
England’s capital and created a “Londongrad”, it claimed.
The ISC also called for transparency measures to be significantly improved in the House of Lords after claiming a number of peers have financial links to Russia that could be exploited by the Kremlin.
MPs also said that Russia is a “sophisticated player” in the cyber sphere and has used its capabilities to target the UK’s governmental departments and national infrastructure. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “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.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she has “no objection” to an inquiry being launched into Russian interference in the Scottish independence referendum. She said: “It is for the UK Government to do.”