MI5 Chief Says Russia Tried to Influence 2016 Brexit Vote but Did Not Sway Result
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Oct 13
MI5 Chief Says Russia Tried to Influence 2016 Brexit Vote but Did Not Sway Result
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Oct 13
Summary
Sir Ken McCallum said Russian trolls, bots and state media did interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum, but warned against exaggerating their impact on the outcome.
The MI5 chief drew a sharp line between attempted interference and a changed result, saying overstating Moscow’s role would hand Russian adversaries undue prominence despite their “comparative unimpressiveness.”
His remarks followed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s claim that it was “clear” Russia had interfered in the vote, after which Downing Street clarified Burnham did not believe those efforts were successful.
Conservatives seized on McCallum’s comments as a rebuke to Burnham, while Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson said there was no evidence of successful Russian interference in the referendum.
The dispute revives a long-running question left unresolved by a 2020 parliamentary report, which faulted the government for not fully assessing and countering Russian social-media threats.