Andy Burnham leaves 10 Downing Street ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions.Andy Burnham has been accused of “doing Russia’s dirty work for them” by confirming that they had tried to interfere in the Brexit referendum.
Speaking to the Rest Is Politics podcast, he became the first prime minister to publicly confirm Moscow’s attempt to disrupt the vote – although No.10 later insisted that it had not influenced the final result.
On Tuesday, MI5 boss Ken McCallum appeared to slap down the PM by warning politicians not to exaggerate Russia’s influence on British politics.
At prime minister’s questions, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch asked Burnham if he “ever got tired of putting his foot in his mouth”.
She added: “This is the first time I have ever heard the head of MI5 slap down a prime minister for doing Russia’s dirty work for them.
“Either the prime minister knew what he was doing on that podcast, trying to undermine the 2016 referendum, or he opened his mouth on a matter of national security and said the first thing that came into his head.
“So, does the prime minister agree with the director general of MI5 that talking up Russian interference was a mistake?”
But Burnham told her: “I think it’s important that we are clear-eyed about what happened in the past – there is incontrovertible evidence that outside actors, enemies to this country, have interfered in our democratic processes.
“And it is inconceivable that that was not taking place across the whole of the last decade.”
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