Burnham Says Russia Interfered in the 2016 Brexit Vote, the First UK Prime Minister to Say So
Andy Burnham said he asked about Russian involvement when he entered Downing Street in July and was given a clear yes. He offered no details on the evidence, and Moscow has long denied meddling.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, making him the first UK prime minister to say so openly.
“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,” Burnham said in an interview on The Rest Is Politics podcast, whose full episode aired Monday.
He did not say how he believes Russia interfered, and gave no details on what evidence the answer was based on. No intelligence assessment or supporting document was published alongside the remarks, and he did not say which part of government supplied the answer.
The claim breaks with a decade of official caution. Boris Johnson, who campaigned to leave the EU, said in 2020 there was no evidence of Russian interference. That same year, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee said the government had failed to fully assess what impact Russian state media and “troll” accounts might have had on the campaign — but stopped short of finding that Russia meddled. Ministers rejected the committee’s call for a retrospective review, saying there was no evidence of successful interference.
Britons voted 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016. Britain formally left the bloc in 2020.
Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in the Brexit vote, casting Britain as gripped by anti-Russian hysteria. The Russian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Burnham’s remarks.
A warning to France and Germany
Burnham framed the claim as a warning to European voters. “These things are important now to put clearly on the record,” he said, “and I believe, help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.”
Junior foreign minister Stephen Doughty told LBC radio on Monday that Russia had “attempted” to interfere in the vote but had “not succeeded.”
Burnham also said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had told him Germany’s far-right opposition party, the Alternative for Germany, “is clearly linked to Russia — funded, I believe.” The two met in Berlin last week. “There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics,” Burnham said.
A question with history
Questions about Russian involvement have hung over Westminster since the vote. The Observer reported on meetings between Russian officials and senior figures at the Leave.EU campaign, including the campaign’s biggest donor, Arron Banks. No wrongdoing was suggested on Banks’s part. There have also been longstanding allegations that Russian agencies used troll factories and fake internet accounts to steer British opinion toward leaving.
Burnham took up the theme at the United Nations last month, telling the General Assembly that London had “evidence” Moscow tried to interfere in the 2019 general election.
The timing of the claim is notable. Burnham has reopened the question of Britain’s relationship with Brussels ahead of a delayed UK-EU summit. At last month’s Labour conference in Liverpool, he said Brexit had done more harm than good, and he has not ruled out a future manifesto pledge to rejoin the EU.
