\n<\/p>\n
Dan Sabbagh<\/span><\/p>\n Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian\u2019s defence and security editor.<\/em><\/p>\n MI5 chief Ken McCallum<\/strong> said today that Moscow did attempt to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum with anti-EU coverage on RT and Sputnik media and via troll social media accounts. But there was a big difference between \u201cwhat may have been attempted and what actually resulted\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n The head of the Security Service said that he agreed strongly with what the prime minister had said on Sunday and Monday, when he raised the issue of attempted Russian interference a decade ago \u2013 though Burnham then backed off when he was challenged by the Conservatives as to whether this meant he regarded the Brexit vote as illegitimate.<\/p>\n McCallum did not put any new evidence into the public domain but cited already known concerns about Russian broadcasters who \u201ccame in pretty strongly around the time of the referendum\u201d in favour of Brexit. He also said that \u201cthere was a second line of interference attempted through [internet] trolls\u201d.<\/p>\n However, he argued there was no evidence to suggest the result of the Brexit vote had been swayed as a result of the effort, which is generally believed to have been marginal, and said that it would be to Russia\u2019s benefit if the issue was talked about further.<\/p>\n He explained:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt is up to us how far we allow our adversaries to divide us.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a little bit worried that if we all stay in this debate for another few days, the Russian trolls who didn\u2019t appear to do all that much at various points over the years, they\u2019ll be delighted they are front page news once again despite the comparative unimpressedness of what they do at all points along the journey.<\/p>\n I am a little bit anxious that we don\u2019t play into our adversaries\u2019 hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall.<\/p>\n UPDATE:<\/em> McCallum<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThere is a really important difference between interference attempted and outcome swayed \u2026 It\u2019s quite important to focus on the difference between what may have been attempted and what actually resulted.<\/p>\n It is a matter of public record including in select committee reports published in 2019 \u2013 the DCMS [digital, culture, media and sport] committee did a bit and the intelligence and security committee did a bit also \u2013 that in 2016, before you even get to any secret intelligence \u2026 it is openly on the record that Russia Today and Sputnik and other Russian media organisations came in pretty strongly around the referendum.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I agree strongly with what the prime minister said yesterday, we did see a hack and leak thing inside the 2019 general election campaign.<\/p>\n <\/span>Ken McCallum giving a speech today.<\/span> Photograph: Jonathan Brady\/Pool PA\/APShare<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.17 EDT<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Ken McCallum has said that Moscow did attempt to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum with anti-EU coverage on RT and Sputnik media and via troll social media accounts.<\/strong> But there was a big difference between \u201cwhat may have been attempted and what actually resulted\u201d, he added. (See 1.15pm.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span>Kemi Badenoch meeting salon owners at The Vanilla Room in Hornchurch, Essex, today.<\/span> Photograph: Will Colebourne\/PAShare<\/p>\n Wes Streeting<\/strong>, the defence secretary, is still giving evidence to the defence committee. Asked about the Northern Ireland Troubles bill, he said that the new amendments being tabled (see 2.34pm) considerably improved it from the point of view of the armed forces. He went on:<\/p>\n double quotation markAnd so we are in a much stronger place, to the extent that I think Sinn F\u00e9in have condemned these amendments and the bill as a veterans\u2019 charter, which as far as I\u2019m concerned is the highest plaudit possible, and I\u2019m absolutely delighted that that\u2019s where we\u2019ve got to.<\/p>\n We have worked intensively with the Northern Ireland secretary [Chris Bryant] and his team to get this bill to a much better place, that deals with what I think is my personal moral obligation to people who\u2019ve served.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Liberal Democrat MPs are holding a private meeting later where they are expected to thrash out disagreements about Ed Davey\u2019s leadership. For months there has been persistent, low-level grumbling about Davey\u2019s supposedly ineffectual leadership. This is a long way off the sort of firing squad revolt the Tory 1922 Committee used to specialise in. So far only two relatively junior frontbenchers have resigned.<\/p>\n But it must be a bit serious because at the Times they have activated a loyalty spreadsheet. This is from Aubrey Allegretti<\/strong> on the state of play.<\/p>\n double quotation markLib Dem leadership showdown:<\/p>\n – 4-hours has been carved out in MPs\u2019 diaries for their meeting at 5pm today, to accommodate requests from more than 40 people to speak (and breaks in proceedings for votes). Roz Savage, as chair of the parliamentary party, will chair the meeting.<\/p>\n – So far, I\u2019ve counted 21 MPs who\u2019ve explicitly – or at least appeared – to back Ed Davey. That leaves a *lot* still undeclared. The rebels need 18 (or 25% of MPs) to force a no-confidence vote.<\/p>\n – Davey\u2019s critics are digging in – and hoping his performance tonight swings sceptics in their favour. They say even if he survives tonight, it\u2019s a matter of \u201cwhen, not if\u201d he goes.<\/p>\n – Davey\u2019s allies accuse the rebels of \u201ctrying to create chaos at a pivotal moment, with the timing of the next general election up in the air\u201d. He has spoken to some MPs to encourage them to speak in support of him tonight.<\/p>\n – Some MPs privately think Davey should go, but are divided over who should replace him – further splintering the rebels.<\/p>\n But my colleague Peter Walker<\/strong> reckons Davey is safe for now.<\/p>\n double quotation markFrom what I hear there is almost no chance of Ed Davey facing any kind of no confidence vote at tonight\u2019s meeting of the Lib Dem parliamentary party. Some MPs are dissatisfied with him, even if it\u2019s hard to gauge how many. But there seems a willingness to listen to what he has to say<\/p>\n double quotation markTwo other reasons why anything dramatic feels unlikely:<\/p>\n \u2022 There is no consensus among the malcontents – or anyone else \u2013 about who they might want to replace Davey.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Lib Dems aren\u2019t generally very good at this sort of thing.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The government could trigger a Liz Truss mini-budget-type economic incident if it committed to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 without saying where the money will come from, Wes Streeting<\/strong> has suggested.<\/p>\n Streeting used the argument as he gave evidence to the Commons defence committee, where he as pressed to confirm that the government will raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.<\/p>\n The defence investment plan (Dip) currently sets out a path to spending 2.7% of GDP on defence by the 2027-28 financial year. John Healey resigned as defence secretary when Keir Starmer refused to commit to 3% by 2030. Healey is now chancellor, but he has not yet explained how he will raise defence spending to the 3% level he treated as a resignation issue.<\/p>\n Streeting told the committee he never expected Healey to set out a pathway to 3% at the budget later this month and that plan was always due in the spending review, now reportedly expected next autumn.<\/p>\n And he defended the chancellor\u2019s decision not to rush. He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have had very bitter recent experience of a former prime minister making unfunded commitments to spend more, tax less, and borrow more all simultaneously, and it led to enormous loss of confidence, people\u2019s mortgages going up, and a level of fundamental loss of confidence in Britain among investors, and this country is still recovering from that.<\/p>\n But Streeting also said that he was \u201cconfident that we will get there\u201d, arguing that this confidence was justified \u201cfrom the choices that Labour\u2019s already made in government through to how strongly, as a matter of principle, the chancellor felt about this\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/span>Wes Streeting at the Commons defence committee.<\/span> Photograph: House of Commons\/UK Parliament\/PAShare<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.23 EDT<\/p>\n Pat McFadden<\/strong>, the work and pensions secretary, has claimed he has a file \u201cas thick as my morning porridge\u201d with quotes from Tories arguing against the pensions triple lock.<\/p>\n He made the claim in a Commons statement explaining the plan announced by Andy Burnham at Labour conference to replace the current triple lock with an adjusted version that will be less generous.<\/p>\n The Conservatives opposed the move when it was announced and, in the Commons, McFadden\u2019s Tory shadow, Helen Whately<\/strong>, claimed this policy was a \u201cU-turn in waiting\u201d and that it would be abandoned by Burnham because of its unpopularity.<\/p>\n But McFadden<\/strong> told Whately that plenty of her colleagues were in favour of the Labour policy. He told her:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe shadow foreign secretary [Tom Tugendhat] has called it simply not affordable and described it as a Ponzi scheme. The shadow justice secretary [Nick Timothy] actually wrote the 2017 manifesto that pledged to replace it with a double lock.<\/p>\n But my favourite is Lord Gove, who told LBC that if Andy Burnham changed the triple lock, he would, and I quote, \u201cdeclare that I will be campaigning at the next general election exclusively for Stella Creasy in Walthamstow\u201d. So I look forward to seeing him at the end of the Victoria line at the next election. with a red rosette on.<\/p>\n McFadden said these were not isolated examples.<\/p>\n double quotation markI have a file as thick as my morning porridge full of quotes from the Tories saying that the triple lock is unsustainable and will have to be changed. They say it in private, they say it before they join the frontbench, and they say it after they leave it.<\/p>\n McFadden also said that, if the Tories remained committed to restoring the triple lock in its current form, they would have to explain at the next election how they would fund that. (Labour plans to legislate before the next election to change the triple lock uprating mechanism from 2030.)<\/p>\n Although the Tories oppose what Labour is planning, at the Tory conference last week Kemi Badenoch refused to commit to restoring the current triple lock if Labour has got rid of it before she takes office.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.39 EDT<\/p>\n Stephen Doughty<\/strong>, the Foreign Office minister, told MPs earlier that the UK has now sanctioned nearly 240 individuals and entities in relation to threats to the country posed by Iran.<\/p>\n A further two Iranian officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were sanctioned yesterday, he said.<\/p>\n In response to an urgent question, Doughty also confirmed that 34 other foreign ministers have joined Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, in issuing a joint statement condemning \u201cin the strongest terms Iran\u2019s use of violent attacks, including the acts of lethal plotting, arson, sabotage, cyber-attacks, and other hybrid activities against us and our partners\u201d.<\/p>\n And Doughty said that yesterday he had summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Foreign Office to tell him, \u201ccandidly and forcibly\u201d that Iran\u2019s activities were unacceptable.<\/p>\n Doughty said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have sanctioned nearly 240 individuals and entities in relation to Iran whose actions threaten our people and security and will continue to keep all those tools under review and will not hesitate to take further action where appropriate.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.55 EDT<\/p>\n Later in the Commons, MPs are expected to pass a motion allowing them more time to consider the Northern Ireland Troubles bill before it has to be passed. The bill was introduced in the last session of parliament, which means it is subject to the carry-over procedure.<\/p>\n The bill replaces legislation passed by the last Tory government which in effect gave immunity to terrorists and members of the armed forces accused of crimes during the Troubles, provided they gave evidence to a Legacy Commission trying to establish the truth about unsolved Troubles-era murders. The Conservative law was hugely unpopular in Northern Ireland, and the Labour alternative \u2013 which is similar \u2013 has also been widely criticised.<\/p>\n In an article in the Times today, Chris Byrant<\/strong>, the Northern Ireland secretary, and Wes Streeting<\/strong>, the defence secretary, highlight amendments being made to the bill which they argue will reduce the risk of retired soldiers being subject to vexatious investigations. Under one change, in future the attorney general would have to approve any serious, Troubles-related prosecution.<\/p>\n They say:<\/p>\n double quotation markBy setting up a fair, workable system to deliver as many answers as possible, we will help communities to heal so that we can finally turn the page on one of the darkest periods in our recent history.<\/p>\n More than a quarter of the families seeking answers from the Legacy Commission are veterans\u2019 families. Nearly one in five are the families of police officers. No one should be in any doubt how important this is.<\/p>\n And describing the way the legislation has been changed, they say:<\/p>\n double quotation markOver the last few months, we have listened to veterans, victims\u2019 groups, including those representing service families, and the wider defence community to hear their concerns. We are responding by making sure the Troubles bill properly protects all those troops who served with honour.<\/p>\n Under the previous government\u2019s scheme, terrorists would have enjoyed the same immunity as veterans \u2013 something so abhorrent it should never have been considered in the first place. And so we will not only repeal it, we will make clear \u2013 in black and white \u2013 that there is no equivalence between paramilitaries, who waged campaigns of violence, murder and destruction, and the lawful actions of our armed forces sent to stop them.<\/p>\n For too long, our servicemen and women have had to fear the knock at the door, the call from an unknown number or the ping of an email notification, as they bear the brunt of incidents being reinvestigated years or decades after the events in question. The bill spells out that there can be no duplication of previous investigative processes unless it is essential, and that witnesses cannot be contacted unless it has been clearly demonstrated that there is compelling new evidence. Nor will veterans be forced to traipse to Northern Ireland to attend hearings. And any decision to prosecute a serious Troubles-related crime will now require the consent of the attorney general.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The Tories have claimed reoffending is \u201coff the charts\u201d due to the prisoner early release scheme.<\/p>\n In an urgent question in the Commons, Nick Timothy,<\/strong> the shadow justice secretary, said the majority of prisoners were not being tagged before release, despite assurances from the government that the tagging system would be the \u201ctoughest in history\u201d.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe justice secretary [Alex Norris] told the country that proper safeguards would be put in place with a presumption that all released prisoners would be tagged.<\/p>\n He called it the toughest tagging regime in history, but that was nonsense.<\/p>\n I have some advice for him and his ministers \u2013 it is better to work out how to implement your policy before it starts, not after. We know a majority of prisoners are not being tagged before release, and we know reoffending is off the charts already.<\/p>\n Jake Richards<\/strong>, a justice minister, said that Timothy should be showing more contrition because prisoners were having to be released early as a result of the Tories leaving a system where the prisons were full.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Kemi Badenoch<\/strong> has welcomed a poll giving the Tories a three-point bounce since their conference, and putting them just one point behind Labour.<\/p>\n In its write-up of its latest regular, weekly poll, YouGov<\/strong> says:<\/p>\n double quotation markOur latest figures show Labour on 24% of the vote, down three points on last week\u2019s poll, while the Conservatives are up three points to 23%, their highest level since we restarted our voting intention tracker in January 2025. Reform UK take a 21% share in this week\u2019s poll, their joint-lowest on our tracker this parliament.<\/p>\n <\/span>YouGov poll<\/span> Photograph: YouGov<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters today, Badenoch<\/strong> suggested the fall in Reform UK\u2019s ratings showed the public had been taking a \u201clong look\u201d at Nigel Farage\u2019s party and \u201cdon\u2019t like what they see.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether she was confident her party could continue to rise in popularity, or whether it was just a temporary, post-conference blip, Badenoch told the Press Association:<\/p>\n double quotation markI am confident that the momentum will continue, because people are seeing the Conservative party has changed under my leadership and there\u2019s much more to come, this is just the beginning.<\/p>\n We left office two years ago, it was a historic defeat for the Conservative party. We made a lot of mistakes.<\/p>\n I have been showing the public that I understand what went wrong; apologised and acknowledged those mistakes. But we are the only party with common sense and a plan to unite the country.<\/p>\n Asked what she thought the poll suggested about Reform UK, she said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI think the public have been taking a long look at Reform and they don\u2019t like what they see. What I need to show them is that if they don\u2019t want a Labour Government there is only one credible alternative.<\/p>\n And this is from Luke Tryl<\/strong>, the More in Common pollster, on the significance of the YouGov poll figures.<\/p>\n double quotation markFew interesting things here of which the most important thing I\u2019d say is the level of volatility should be a further warning of risks a snap election. Lab\u2019s conference bounce disappears in a week. Second conferences still matter at least short term. Third battle for the right is now wide open.<\/p>\n <\/span>Kemi Badenoch on a visit to the Vanilla Room, a hair saloon, in Hornchurch, Essex.<\/span> Photograph: Will Colebourne\/PAShare<\/p>\n The statement from Ken McCallum confirming Russian interference in the Brexit referendum is a bit awkward for Katie Lam<\/strong>, the shadow communities secretary. On Sunday she wrote an open letter to Angela Rayner, the communities secretary, about Andy Burnham saying Russia did interfere in the 2016 vote. Lam said in her letter these claims were \u201cunproven\u201d and in a post on social media she said: \u201cThe prime minister is spreading conspiracy theories about the Brexit referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n (You can argue that the claim Russia decided the outcome of the referendum is a conspiracy theory, but this is not something Burnham did say in his Rest is Politics interview, or ever has said.)<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Ken McCallum<\/strong>, the head of MI5, has also said that extremists holding anti-immigration opinions are becoming increasingly likely to consider carrying out terrorist attacks against immigration centres and asylum hotels in the UK. Dan Sabbagh<\/strong> has the story.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Dan Sabbagh<\/span><\/p>\n Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian\u2019s defence and security editor.<\/em><\/p>\n MI5 chief Ken McCallum<\/strong> said today that Moscow did attempt to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum with anti-EU coverage on RT and Sputnik media and via troll social media accounts. But there was a big difference between \u201cwhat may have been attempted and what actually resulted\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n The head of the Security Service said that he agreed strongly with what the prime minister had said on Sunday and Monday, when he raised the issue of attempted Russian interference a decade ago \u2013 though Burnham then backed off when he was challenged by the Conservatives as to whether this meant he regarded the Brexit vote as illegitimate.<\/p>\n McCallum did not put any new evidence into the public domain but cited already known concerns about Russian broadcasters who \u201ccame in pretty strongly around the time of the referendum\u201d in favour of Brexit. He also said that \u201cthere was a second line of interference attempted through [internet] trolls\u201d.<\/p>\n However, he argued there was no evidence to suggest the result of the Brexit vote had been swayed as a result of the effort, which is generally believed to have been marginal, and said that it would be to Russia\u2019s benefit if the issue was talked about further.<\/p>\n He explained:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt is up to us how far we allow our adversaries to divide us.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a little bit worried that if we all stay in this debate for another few days, the Russian trolls who didn\u2019t appear to do all that much at various points over the years, they\u2019ll be delighted they are front page news once again despite the comparative unimpressedness of what they do at all points along the journey.<\/p>\n I am a little bit anxious that we don\u2019t play into our adversaries\u2019 hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall.<\/p>\n UPDATE:<\/em> McCallum<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThere is a really important difference between interference attempted and outcome swayed \u2026 It\u2019s quite important to focus on the difference between what may have been attempted and what actually resulted.<\/p>\n It is a matter of public record including in select committee reports published in 2019 \u2013 the DCMS [digital, culture, media and sport] committee did a bit and the intelligence and security committee did a bit also \u2013 that in 2016, before you even get to any secret intelligence \u2026 it is openly on the record that Russia Today and Sputnik and other Russian media organisations came in pretty strongly around the referendum.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I agree strongly with what the prime minister said yesterday, we did see a hack and leak thing inside the 2019 general election campaign.<\/p>\n <\/span>Ken McCallum giving a speech today.<\/span> Photograph: Jonathan Brady\/Pool PA\/APShare<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.17 EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MI5 chief Ken McCallum confirms Russia did interfere in Brexit referendum – but says it had little impact Dan Sabbagh Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian\u2019s defence and security editor. MI5 chief Ken McCallum said today that Moscow did attempt to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum with anti-EU coverage on RT and Sputnik media and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[5615,689,3107,419,265,20509,1132,25383,7686,124,765,523],"class_list":{"0":"post-52451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-chief","10":"tag-confirms","11":"tag-happened","12":"tag-impact","13":"tag-interfere","14":"tag-ken","15":"tag-mccallum","16":"tag-mi5","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-referendum","19":"tag-russia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Afternoon summary<\/h2>\n
\n
Streeting says, if Sinn F\u00e9in opposing new Troubles bill as ‘veterans’ charter’, he’s ‘delighted’<\/h2>\n
Ed Davey under pressure to defend his leadership at meeting with his MPs<\/h2>\n
Streeting tells MPs committing to spending 3% of GDP on defence without plan to fund it would risk Truss-type backlash<\/h2>\n
Pat McFadden accuses Tories of hypocrisy over pensions triple lock, saying many of them accept current version unsustainable<\/h2>\n
Foreign Office minister tells MPs nearly 240 Iranian people and entities now subject to sanctions over hostile acts<\/h2>\n
Veterans to get more protection under significant amendments to Northern Ireland Troubles bill, ministers claim<\/h2>\n
Reoffending ‘off the charts’ because of prisoner early release scheme, Tories claim<\/h2>\n
How MI5 chief’s comments undermine Tory claim Burnham was spreading ‘conspiracy theories’ about Brexit referendum<\/h2>\n
Rightwing extremists increasingly likely to consider terrorist attacks, MI5 chief says<\/h2>\n
MI5 chief Ken McCallum confirms Russia did interfere in Brexit referendum – but says it had little impact<\/h2>\n