Government defends ‘sitting on’ Russia report despite objections

THE Government has defended delaying a report investigating Russian influence in British politics as MPS attacked its reasons as “bogus”.

On Monday, Downing Street indicated a 50-page report from the Commons intelligence and security committee (ISC) would not be published before the election.

The committee had looked into claims that the Kremlin tried to influence the outcome of the EU referendum in 2016 as well as the 2017 election.

The ISC’S reports are submitted to the Government before publication to ensure no sensitive information is inadvertently made public.

Last night Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general who chairs the committee, said: “The Prime Minister – against the advice of the Agencies [MI6, MI5 and GCHQ] – stopped us from publishing.”

It was sent to the Prime Minister for “final confirmation” on Oct 17, and the committee expected a reply in 10 days.

Chris Pincher, a Foreign Office minister, responded to an urgent question in the Commons yesterday by saying that the delay was “not unusual”.

He added: “It’s not as if the Prime Minister has not had one or two other things to do during the last several weeks. We cannot rush this process at the risk of undermining our national security.

“There is no set timeline for a response, nor is there such a deadline set in the governing legislation.”

Mr Grieve said reasons for the delay given were “plainly bogus” and that it was “unprecedented” that the committee should have received no response.