Prime Minister confirms Russian interference in 2016 Brexit referendum

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said it is clear that Russia interfered in the 2016 EU referendum, the first time a UK prime minister has publicly made the acknowledgement. Speaking on The Rest Is Politics podcast released on Sunday, Burnham said that on arriving in Downing Street, he asked whether there had been Russian interference and had ‘the clear answer that yes there was’. He did not provide evidence or details to support the claim. The remarks follow his speech to the UN General Assembly last month, in which he said there was evidence Moscow tried to interfere in the 2019 general election. They also go further than the Intelligence and Security Committee’s 2020 report, which found the Government had failed to seek a deep assessment of interference in the referendum, while confirming that Russia had meddled in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Burnham delivered the statement as a warning to voters in Germany and France, and said Chancellor Friedrich Merz had told him during last week’s Berlin visit that the AfD was linked to Russia and, he believed, funded by it. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey welcomed the intervention, saying it was something that needed to be said by a Prime Minister. The comments coincide with a warning from UK intelligence agencies of an increasing threat of Russian interference in Britain’s democratic institutions. However, this instance marks a shift in the government’s public position, treating Russian interference as a matter of record and as a shared European threat, though without published evidence, the claim is likely to be contested, particularly as it follows Burnham’s reopening of the question of EU membership.

Sources
Al Jazeera, ‘UK PM Andy Burnham says it is ‘clear’ Russia interfered in 2016 Brexit vote’, 12 October 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/12/uk-pm-andy-burnham-says-it-is-clear-russia-interfered-in-2016-brexit-vote

ITV News, ‘Burnham says it is ‘clear’ Russia interfered in Brexit referendum’, 11 October 2026. https://www.itv.com/news/2026-10-11/burnham-says-it-is-clear-russia-interfered-in-brexit-referendum

Associated Press via The Hill, ‘UK prime minister say it is ‘clear’ Russia interfered in 2016 Brexit referendum’, October 2026. https://thehill.com/policy/international/uk-russia-brexit-andy-burnham/

Al Jazeera, ‘Russia meddled in Scottish vote, unclear on Brexit: UK parliament’, 21 July 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/21/russia-meddled-in-scottish-vote-unclear-on-brexit-uk-parliament

By Alice Charalambous