After 18 months of investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the Brexit referendum, the UK parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) found that the country's influence on the 2016 vote, if it really existed, was "unquantifiable," but still mentioned articles by the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster, The Times newspaper disclosed, citing a suppressed report
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2019) After 18 months of investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the Brexit referendum, the UK parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) found that the country's influence on the 2016 vote, if it really existed, was "unquantifiable," but still mentioned articles by the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster, The Times newspaper disclosed, citing a suppressed report.
The release of the report in question had earlier been suspended by the government until after the December 12 snap election, a move that prompted speculation about its content. Moscow itself has repeatedly rejected the accusations.
According to the UK newspaper, despite failing to unambiguously conclude whether Russia did, in fact, influence the vote, the high-profile report still accuses UK intelligence agencies of directing insufficient resources to address the purported threat from Russia, which The Times dubbed as "Vladimir Putin's regime."
The report also mentions Sputnik and RT, with The Times recalling that a 2018 parliamentary inquiry found that these media outlets had a greater social media impact than the Leave campaigns.
Commenting on the fresh report, the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, said the leaked revelations bring serious matters into question, given that the country is now set for another vote.
"If it is correct that our security services have been unable to reach a conclusion about the extent or impact of Russian interference in the 2016 referendum, then it raises serious questions which require serious answers," Thornberry said, as quoted by the newspaper.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, she believes, now "needs to clear up the confusion, spin and speculation around this ISC report by publishing it in full at the earliest opportunity." Otherwise, according to the shadow minister, people will wonder what he was trying to "hide" from the public and why.
