UK failed to probe Russia interference in Brexit vote - MPs

The British government and intelligence services failed to assess the Russian threat to the 2016 Brexit referendum, a long-delayed security committee report said on Tuesday.

In a scathing indictment, the cross-party group said no one in authority “had not seen or sought evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes”.

Originally slated for release last November, the report was deliberately delayed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to avoid it becoming a distraction in the 2019 General Election and open the Brexit campaign to scrutiny.

It was further delayed while Downing Street tried to force the committee to accept former Cabinet minister Chris Grayling as chairman – a move which backfired spectacularly last week when the Conservative Julian Lewis outflanked Johnson and grabbed the post.

“(The) UK is clearly a target for Russian disinformation. While the mechanics of our paper-based voting system are largely sound, we cannot be complacent about a hostile state taking deliberate action with the aim of influencing our democratic processes,” the committee said.

“Yet the defence of those democratic processes has appeared something of a ‘hot potato’, with no one organisation considering itself to be in the lead, or apparently willing to conduct an assessment of such interference. This must change.”

The committee said that since the then-Conservative government in 1994 opened its doors and "welcomed the oligarchs and their money with open arms Russian influence in British affairs had become "the new normal".

As a result, Russian figures were provided with a means of recycling illicit finance through the "London laundromat’" and were able to make connections at the highest levels with access to UK companies and political figures.

"This has led to a growth industry of ‘enablers’ including lawyers, accountants, and estate agents who are – wittingly or unwittingly – de facto agents of the Russian state," the MPs said.

They added that several members of the Russian elite closely linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin were identified as being involved with charitable and/or political organisations in the UK, having donated to political parties, with a public profile which positioned them to assist Russian influence operations.

"It is notable that a number of Members of the House of Lords have business interests linked to Russia, or work directly for major Russian companies linked to the Russian state – these relationships should be carefully scrutinised, given the potential for the Russian state to exploit them."