Andy Burnham Becomes First UK Prime Minister To Confirm Russia’s Role in Brexit

Speaking on the Rest is Politics podcast, Burnham said: “I asked the question coming to Downing Street, was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia?

“And I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was.

“I mean, these things are important now to put clearly on the record, and I believe, help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.”

Burnham is the first person in No.10 to confirm the long-suspected theory.

Parliament’s intelligence and security committee concluded in 2020 that the government had failed to fully assess the impact Russia had on the seismic EU referendum.

Burnham was speaking after he met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this week, where the two leaders discussed the threat from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The PM said Merz suggested “the AfD is clearly linked to Russia”.

He warned that countries have not been transparent enough about the influence from other countries.

“I think we’ve been too much on the back foot on that, actually,” he said. “And we haven’t informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas.”

Alluding to the nationwide protests which have erupted in France in recent weeks, and the rise of the far-right National Rally party, Burnham said: “Given what’s happening in Germany and France, I think it’s really important for the UK to step to the fore and say, well, look, we went through this a decade ago when we saw this rupture in our politics and we’ve now got a decade of experience.

“We have had a decade of drift and division that has caused more harm than good. In my view, we are a more fractious country than we were. We have a weaker sense of direction. And these are all the things I’m trying to fix as Prime Minister.”

Burnham said he wants to “draw a line on that decade”.

“There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics,” he said, comparing it to Brexit.

“I don’t think we knew back then the extent to which there was state-sponsored interference in the British democratic process.”

Burnham also said there was evidence Moscow tried to interfere with the 2019 general election during his speech to the UN General Assembly last month.

The Conservatives won that election with a landslide after Boris Johnson campaigned on the promise to “get Brexit done”.

Burnham, on the other hand, opened the door to rejoining the EU at the Labour Party conference last month.

He said a Brexit referendum could be “possible” in the next Labour election manifesto.

His comments come after Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia is trying to “boil Europe” like a frog with a growing number of “terror or sabotage” attacks.

He told Sky: “They are turning on the heat, trying to boil Europe as a frog over the years.

“And then testing and dividing our unity as a society, and as organisations like Nato or EU.”

The full episode from the Rest is Politics is due to be released on Monday.

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