Andy Burnham doubles down on claims about Russian interference in Brexit, accusing Tories of wanting to ‘look in the other direction’

Prime Minister Andy Burnham doubled down on his claims about Russian interference in Brexit, accusing the Tories of wanting to look the other way, during a fiery exchange with Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

Burnham became the first Prime Minister to confirm that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, saying that it was ‘clearly involved’.

He made the comments last week, during an appearance on the Rest is Politics podcast, saying that upon entering Number 10 he had asked whether Russia had tried to influence the vote – and was given “the clear answer that yes, there was”.

The Prime Minister has made clear that he was not questioning the legitimacy of the Brexit vote, but meant that Russia had tried to interfere in the vote but had been unsuccessful in its efforts.

Badenoch raised the issues at PMQs saying that the Prime Minister had been trying to ‘unsay’ his previous claims and had put his ‘foot in his mouth’.

Burnham replied: “We have lived through a decade of division, and we know that hostile actors have been seeking to interfere in our democratic process, that is a matter of fact.

“We need to call that out and look straight at it, in a way that the party opposite didn’t do. I have a quote here from the right honourable lady when she stood at this dispatch box, when she was responsible for steering through the elections bill and she said this: “I have not read the Russia report”, it’s because they didn’t want to see it, they wanted to look in the other direction.

“I won’t do that Mr Speaker, I will draw a line, I will defend our democracy and I will lead this country forward with positivity, unity and hope in the next decade.”