UK Prime Minister Believes Brexit Vote Legitimate Despite Russian Interference Claims

Downing Street has stated that the Prime Minister believes the 2016 Brexit referendum result was legitimate, despite claims of Russian interference in the vote. A spokesperson for Number 10 said it was "inconceivable" that Russia had not attempted to influence the referendum to its advantage, but maintained that the Prime Minister believes such efforts did not succeed in altering the outcome.

These comments follow remarks made by Andy Burnham on "The Rest is Politics podcast," where he stated that upon entering Downing Street, he had received confirmation that Russian interference in the vote had occurred. He also suggested that there was "certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics" and that insufficient attention had been paid to foreign actors seeking to disrupt political processes.

The Prime Minister himself did not elaborate on the specific nature or extent of Russian activities concerning the 2016 referendum. Foreign Minister Stephen Doughty acknowledged that Russia had been "attempting to interfere in a series of democratic events" but declined to provide further details regarding interference in the Brexit vote.

Nigel Farage, a prominent Brexit campaigner, reacted strongly to the Prime Minister's initial remarks, calling him a "liar" and asserting that there was no Russian interference, describing the notion as a "Russian hoax." Conservative shadow minister Katie Lam expressed concern that such statements "risk sowing doubt about the result of a professionally-run, independently-monitored democratic vote" and suggested that Burnham might be seeking to cast doubt on the result to justify closer ties with the EU.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey supported Burnham's statement, calling it courageous and necessary after years of alleged suppression of truth by the Conservatives.

In 2020, a parliamentary report did not reach a definitive conclusion on whether Russia had attempted to interfere in UK elections and referendums. However, the report criticized the government for not adequately assessing and countering the threat posed by Russian "troll" accounts on social media, with the report's chair accusing the government of having "actively avoided" searching for evidence of interference.

Previously, in 2017, then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stated there was "not a sausage" of evidence of Russia successfully meddling in UK elections. More recently, an independent review published earlier this year on foreign influence in UK politics found attempts to "sow distrust and exacerbate divisions in UK society with the ultimate aim of undermining confidence in our democracy." The report's author noted that while the impact of these efforts was difficult to ascertain and the public could be credited with common sense, there was no "immediate crisis" in British democracy, though "no guarantee that this will persist."