Russia may have rigged Brexit vote – and U.K.’s 8 June general election could be next: Experts
Glees added that it is “highly probable” Moscow will attempt to influence the outcome of the U.K. general election, scheduled for 8 June. Russian interference in the June election “should be looked at as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Glees, director of the Center for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, said: “It’s the core of our democracy that our elections are free.
“If money were used by foreigners to buy votes that would be extremely disturbing.
“What we know is that there has been Russian interference in the American election.
“The purpose wasn’t necessarily to help one party to win, but to promote division of the country. Because a divided country is a weaker country.”
In March, GCHQ [Government Communications Headquarters – the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. NSA] warned leaders of Britain’s political parties of the threat Russian government hacking was posing to British democracy.
A leaked government letter, however, suggested that Russian government hackers’ efforts notwithstanding, “there’s only a ‘negligible’ chance of Russia undermining British elections.”
Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer, in a letter to Bradshaw, wrote: “I am confident that there is a negligible risk of a foreign government or agency being able to influence the operational delivery of electoral events in the U.K.”
Dr. Alina Polyakova, director of research, Europe and Eurasia for the Atlantic Council, told Daily Star Online that it is likely Russian interference will be at play ahead of the general election.
Spreading “disinformation” in the “digital space” was a key part of Russia’s strategy in “advocating Brexit,” she said.
She added: “There are also suspicions and some circumstantial evidence that individuals and organizations connected to the Kremlin were involved in funding pro-Brexit campaigns and groups.
“Certainly, we are likely to see similar disinformation campaigns around the general election, perhaps married with hacked and leaked data dumps.”
Bradshaw has been concerned for a while with Russian government interference in the Brexit campaign. Business Insider reportedthat he had persuaded Damien Collins, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee chairman, to investigate Russia propaganda as part of a fake news inquiry.
He has also called on Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee to look into whether Russia had interfered with the Brexit referendum.
The report prepared by Bradshaw and Glees was handed to committee chairman, Dominic Grieve, as part of the effort to persuade the committee to launch an investigation.
Any investigation, however, will have to wait until after the 8 June election.
The rules governing campaign finances in the United Kingdom are similar to those in France.
Vladimir Putin instructed a Russian bank with close ties to the Kremlin to give Marine Le Pen, the leader of the populist, far-right National Front, $10 million to support her presidential campaign (she lost heavily to Emanuel Macron in the 7 May election). The National Front reported the donation in its financial statements.
It would thus not have been a violation of the law for the Leave campaign to receive money from Russian sources close to Putin – but such a donation should have been reported.
Glees told the Daily Star that Russian interference with Brexit is also on the radar of the Electoral Commission – which is in charge of overseeing elections and regulating political finance in the United Kingdom.
It is understood that the Electoral Commission is worried about the transparency of money donated to political parties and campaigns.
