#UK officials reportedly ‘avoided’ looking into Russian meddling in Brexit

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin talk during a meeting on the sidelines of an international summit on Libya
Alexei Nikolsky/TASS

The British government failed to conduct a proper assessment into Russia’s alleged attempts to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum, according to a long-awaited report, which also found that the Kremlin meddled in the 2014 Scottish referendum.

The report from the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee into Russian influence in British politics said it would be “difficult — if not impossible — to prove” allegations that the Kremlin tried to influence the Brexit referendum.

But “the Government was slow to recognize the existence of the threat,” it said, adding that British officials should have recognized the threat back in 2014.

“What is clear is that the government was slow to recognize the existence of the threat — only understanding it after the ‘hack and leak’ operation against the Democratic National Committee, when it should have been seen as early as 2014,” said the report, which was published Tuesday.

“As a result, the Government did not take action to protect the UK’s process in 2016,” added the report, whose authors assailed the British government for “actively avoiding” looking into the Russian threat.

“Serious questions needed to be asked” why ministers didn’t look into the matter after evidence of meddling in the 2014 Scottish referendum and reports of similar activity in the US elections, it said.

“We have not been provided with any post-referendum assessment of Russian attempts at interference,” the committee noted, contrasting the response with that of the US, the Guardian reported.

“This situation is in stark contrast to the US handling of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, where an intelligence community assessment was produced within two months of the vote, with an unclassified summary being made public,” it said.

Russia deems UK as one of its top intelligence targets in the West, the report found, adding that the Kremlin’s influence in the Britain is the “new normal.

The damning 50-page report was published after criticism that the government delayed its release for more than six months to shield Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party from embarrassment.

Downing Street was accused of delaying its release ahead of December’s election — which it has denied, according to the BBC.

But during a news conference to launch the report, Kevan Jones, one of the ISC’s committee members, slammed the prime minister for not signing it off sooner, saying there was “no reason for delay,” the news outlet reported.

Downing Street was expected to publish its response shortly.

The report cast Russia as a hostile power that posed a major threat to the UK and the West across a variety fronts, from espionage and cyber to election meddling and laundering dirty money.

The Kremlin said Russia has never interfered in another country’s electoral processes.

Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in the West, casting the US and Britain as obsessed with anti-Russian hysteria.

With Post wires