Arabic version: مقر رئاسة الوزراء يقول إن تصويت بريكست ما زال شرعياً

According to BBC News, Downing Street says Prime Minister Andy Burnham believes the 2016 Brexit referendum result was legitimate, despite his statement that Russia interfered in the vote.

A No 10 spokesman said it was “inconceivable” that Russia did not try to use the referendum to its advantage, but said the prime minister believed those efforts did not influence the outcome. After repeated questions on Monday, the spokesman said: “Yes we believe the referendum result was legitimate,” adding that Burnham “absolutely accepts the referendum result”.

Burnham told The Rest is Politics podcast that, after arriving in Downing Street, he had asked whether there had been Russian interference in the vote and received “the clear answer” that there had been. He did not provide further detail on the nature or extent of Russian activity. Foreign Minister Stephen Doughty also declined to give specific details, saying Russia had been attempting to interfere in a series of democratic events.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a prominent Brexit campaigner, called Burnham a “liar” and said there had been no Russian interference. Conservative shadow minister Katie Lam said the prime minister risked creating doubt about an independently monitored vote. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey backed Burnham, saying the statement “needed to be said by a prime minister”.

A 2020 parliamentary report did not reach a firm conclusion on whether Russia had sought to intervene in UK elections and referendums, but criticised the government for not fully assessing and countering the threat from Russian social-media “troll” accounts. An independent review published earlier this year said foreign actors had tried to sow distrust and deepen divisions, while noting it was difficult to establish their impact.