Russia sought to influence the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, according to a long-awaited intelligence report published on Tuesday, which also claims Russian influence in the U.K. is “the new normal.”
The cross-party intelligence and security committee published a 50-page report on Russian interference in British democracy, which also pointed to a lack of curiosity into possible Russian meddling in the Brexit referendum in 2016.
It called for an “analogous assessment of potential Russian interference in the EU referendum.”
The report says: “Open source studies have pointed to the preponderance of pro-Brexit or anti-EU stories on RT [Russia Today] and Sputnik, and the use of ‘bots’ and ‘trolls,’ as evidence of Russian attempts to influence the process.”
But in a separate statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a retrospective assessment of the EU referendum isn’t necessary: “We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU referendum.”
Read:Russia accused by U.S., Britain, Canada of hacking coronavirus vaccine trials
On the Scottish independence vote, the report went further saying: “There has been credible open source commentary suggesting that Russia undertook influence campaigns in relation to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.”
The Kremlin has always denied that Russia has sought to interfere with the electoral process of another country, accusing the West of anti-Russian hysteria.
The report says the U.K. is clearly a target for Russia’s disinformation campaigns and political influence operations, but its antiquated paper-based voting system means it is impossible to rig elections.
“In terms of the direct threat to elections,” the report concludes “We have been informed that the mechanics of the U.K.’s voting system are deemed largely sound: the use of a highly dispersed paper-based voting and counting system makes any significant interference difficult.”
Read:Hillary Clinton criticizes British government for blocking Russian report
The committee comprises politicians from all parties and scrutinizes Britain’s intelligence agencies, but was under scrutiny itself last week over the controversial election of Julian Lewis MP as its chairman.
The government accused him of colluding with opposition MPs to get the top job and he was subsequently sacked from the Conservative Party.
The report had been sent to Prime Minister Johnson last October, who delayed its publication because of the December general election. Lewis’ first act as chairman was to release it.
Opinion:Boris Johnson hails his economic plan as a new ‘New Deal.’ Try ‘small deal’ instead
Add Comment