MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum has warned against fuelling Russian propaganda efforts after Andy Burnham revealed Moscow’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Sir Ken said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s online trolls will be “delighted” if the furore caused by the Prime Minister’s comments continues.
The spymaster confirmed Russia had sought to influence the vote but dismissed the “comparative unimpressiveness” of the efforts.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spoken about Russian interference (Christopher Furlong/PA)
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And he said the UK should not “play into our adversaries’ hands” by amplifying the impact of Russian trolls.
The Prime Minister told MPs on Monday that Russia had sought to intervene in the 2019 general election “and we think it is inconceivable that this was the first time”.
Mr Burnham had previously told The Rest Is Politics podcast that he was informed on entering Downing Street that it was “clear” Moscow had sought to interfere in the referendum.
His comments had been viewed by opponents as an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the referendum – something the Prime Minister strenuously denied.
Speaking at MI5’s Thames House headquarters, Sir Ken said: “There is a really important difference between interference attempted and outcome swayed… It’s quite important to focus on the difference between what may have been attempted and what actually resulted.
“It is a matter of public record including in select committee reports published in 2019 – the DCMS Committee did a bit and the Intelligence and Security Committee did a bit also – that in 2016, before you even get to any secret intelligence… it is openly on the record that Russia Today and Sputnik and other Russian media organisations came in pretty strongly around the referendum.
“And it is also a matter of open source record that there was a certain amount of interference attempted through trolls and bots and so forth.
“I agree strongly with what the Prime Minister said yesterday, we did see a hack and leak thing inside the 2019 general election campaign.”
But he added he was concerned about the ongoing debate about Russian interference.
“It is kind of up to us how far we allow our various adversaries to divide us,” Sir Ken said.
“And I’m a little bit worried that if we all stay in this debate for another few days that Russian trolls who didn’t appear to do all that much at various points over the years, they’ll be delighted because they are front page news again despite the comparative unimpressiveness of what they do at all points along the journey.
“I am a little bit anxious that we don’t play into our adversaries’ hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall.”