Burnham Says It's 'Clear' Russia Interfered in 2016 Brexit Vote

Prime Minister Andy Burnham says Russia interfered with the 2016 Brexit referendum, telling a podcast that British voters were not told enough about efforts by foreign actors to disrupt the vote, according to the BBC.

What exactly did the prime minister say?

Burnham told The Rest Is Politics podcast that when he arrived in 10 Downing Street, he asked officials whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 EU referendum, the BBC reports. "I've had the clear answer that, yes, there was," he said. He added that the government has been "too much on the back foot" on the issue and has not "informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas." The interview is set for release on Monday, according to the BBC.

Burnham did not give details about what form the Russian activity took or how much it may have affected the outcome, the BBC notes. The 2016 referendum ended with a vote to leave the European Union.

Is this the first time a UK leader has said this about Brexit?

Yes. The BBC reports this is the first time a sitting British prime minister has stated that Russia tried to sway the 2016 Brexit result. Concerns about Kremlin influence on UK politics are not new, though. In 2020, Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee published a report on Russian interference in UK elections and referendums. That report did not reach a firm conclusion on whether Russia influenced the Brexit outcome, but it criticized successive British governments for failing to properly assess or counter the threat, according to the BBC.

That same year, the then-Conservative government said it was "almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere" in the 2019 general election, the BBC reports.

How has Russia responded to past accusations?

After the 2020 parliamentary report, Russia's foreign minister dismissed it as "Russophobia," and a Kremlin spokesman said Russia does not meddle in other countries' elections, according to the BBC. Moscow has not yet issued a direct response to Burnham's latest remarks, based on the information in the BBC's report.

How are Brexit supporters reacting?

Britain Unbound, a pro-Brexit campaign group, pushed back hard. The group called Burnham's comments "another crude attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the decision that the British people made in 2016," the BBC reports. The group said foreign interference in UK elections is "obviously unacceptable" but argued "there is no good reason to believe that Russian intervention influenced the outcome of the referendum in 2016." It added that suggesting voters were "so easily duped" is "insulting."

The BBC's account does not include a response from the official Vote Leave or Leave.EU campaigns of 2016, and HTT News could not independently verify additional reaction from those groups in the source material reviewed.

Is Russia doing this elsewhere in Europe right now?

Burnham told the podcast he raised the issue with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a visit to Germany this week, the BBC reports. "There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics," Burnham said, according to the BBC. He said putting this "clearly on the record" could help voters in Germany and France "understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia."

The BBC also points to work by its own verification unit, BBC Verify, which has tracked Russian-linked disinformation campaigns, including AI-generated fake videos impersonating journalists covering the war in Ukraine. One fake news site falsely claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bought a mansion owned by King Charles at a discount, the BBC reports.

Earlier this year, Vijay Rangarajan, head of the UK Electoral Commission, told members of Parliament that Russian deepfake videos have been "used extensively in elections around the world," adding "there is no reason to assume Britain would be an exception," according to the BBC. Last month, in a speech to the United Nations, Burnham accused Russian agencies of using "every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people's fears," the BBC reports, and he announced that the UK would take further steps on the issue, though the BBC's account does not detail what those steps are.

For readers trying to follow the full exchange, the BBC's original report, linked above, carries the complete quotes from Burnham and the response from Britain Unbound.

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