The UK Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report into Russian activity in the UK has accused British officials for not taking action and for “badly underestimating” the Russian threat.
The ISC’s investigation began in 2017 after claims about Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The inquiry covers a number of topics, including disinformation campaigns, cyber tactics and Russian expatriates in the UK. It concludes that ministers turned a blind eye to allegations of Russian disruption.
The report criticised intelligence agencies for not taking action during the EU referendum, despite there being “credible open source commentary” suggesting “influence campaigns” from the Russians during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. It called for “immediate action” to tackle Russian activity in the UK, saying the government was “playing catch-up” after failing to act sooner.
“The UK Government have actively avoided looking for evidence that Russia interfered. We were told that they hadn’t seen any evidence, but that is meaningless if they hadn’t looked for it”, ISC member, Stewart Hosie said, and added:
“We have not been provided with any post-referendum assessment of Russian attempts at interference”.
The Kremlin rejected the claims:”It is Russophobia in the style of fake news”, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
