UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum “clear,” but excerpts of a podcast interview that came out Sunday include no supporting evidence. He said he put the question to his advisers on taking office in July and got “the clear answer that yes, there was.” Reports don’t say what the answer contained.
Burnham made the remarks on The Rest Is Politics podcast, with the full episode due Monday. He said he wants the claim on the record so voters in Germany and France understand that Russia instigates some of their politics.
He tied the point to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), saying he raised the party’s suspected ties to Moscow with Chancellor Friedrich Merz at their meeting in Berlin last week. Burnham said Merz told him the party is “clearly linked to Russia, funded I believe.”
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The PM added that disinformation from Russia is reaching German politics. Neither Merz nor the AfD has responded in the reports reviewed, and neither claim is supported by public evidence.
The closest official record is a 2020 report from Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee. It found the government didn’t fully examine whether Russian state media and “troll” accounts could have influenced the referendum.
Burnham also accused Russia of spreading disinformation in a September UN General Assembly speech. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the speech contained nothing new and called Britain’s policy short-sighted. Moscow has repeatedly denied interfering in foreign elections, and reports reviewed carry no new Moscow response to the Brexit remark.
Conservative shadow Foreign Office minister Wendy Morton said the referendum result is “legitimate and its authenticity should not be questioned.” She added that any protections for democracy should stay even-handed.
The remarks come as Burnham seeks closer ties with the EU. He has said a return to a referendum isn’t right for now and hasn’t ruled out campaigning on rejoining in a future manifesto.
