In excerpts from The Rest is Politics podcast released Sunday, Mr Burnham said he asked his advisers after becoming prime minister in July whether Russia interfered in the 2016 referendum.
Investigations into the 2016 US elections suggested Russia sought to undermine Hilary Clinton’s campaign and favour now-president Donald Trump. (ABC News)
“I asked the question coming to Downing Street, ‘Was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia?’” he said. "I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was.
“These things are important now to put clearly on the record and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.”
Mr Burnham did not spell out how Russia interfered in the referendum and did not provide evidence.
"Britain does not need to fear a Russian invasion. It needs to wake up to the one that has already happened in our politics, our economy, and our national soul.
For years, British politicians warned that “the Russians are coming.” The phrase conjured images of spies, hackers, and shadowy figures manipulating Western democracies from afar. But the truth is starker: they are not coming they are already here. The influence of Putin’s Russia has seeped deep into British political life, reshaping the nation’s direction through propaganda, financial infiltration, and the nurturing of divisive political figures. The evidence is all around us in the rise of Nigel Farage, Reform, the toxicity of Brexit, and the slow, deliberate decline of Britain’s economic and democratic strength. The seeds were planted long before the referendum. When UKIP and later the Brexit Party now Reform UK surged to prominence, their rhetoric carried echoes of Russian disinformation: anti-EU, anti-immigrant, anti-establishment. Each slogan was designed to pit neighbour against neighbour, region against region, and Britain against its own interests. Russia’s playbook has always been about destabilisation, and few events have destabilised Britain more than Brexit. Nigel Farage, feted by Russian state media as a “man of the people” and given disproportionate airtime by RT (Russia Today), became the perfect vehicle. His populism masked a geopolitically convenient mission: to weaken the European Union and fracture Western unity. Nathan Gill, Farage’s close ally and UKIP MEP, echoed the same anti-Brussels line, parroting narratives that dovetailed neatly with Kremlin talking points. The push for Brexit was not simply a domestic rebellion it was a geopolitical victory for Moscow. By removing Britain from the EU, Putin achieved through propaganda what decades of espionage never could: a divided, isolated Britain, struggling to find its footing in a global economy that has moved on without it. The results are plain to see. The UK’s economy is shrinking relative to its peers. Public services are starved of funds. Inflation and interest rates squeeze households while infrastructure crumbles. Britain, once a pillar of European stability, is now plagued by instability of its own making. And who benefits? Russia watching gleefully as one of NATO’s key members turns inward, distracted by culture wars and internal strife. The links between Russian money and the British right are no longer mere conspiracy. Under Boris Johnson, the Tory Party accepted millions in donations from individuals with ties to the Russian elite even as intelligence agencies warned of growing Kremlin interference. Johnson himself shelved the long-delayed “Russia Report,” which detailed how deeply Moscow had infiltrated British political and financial systems. Instead of confronting the threat, he and his allies downplayed it while their media surrogates, The Daily Mail, branded anyone who raised concerns as “Remoaners” or “traitors.” Meanwhile, Nigel Farage continues to parrot lines that have been written in the Kremlin press office. His public sympathy for Putin’s “understandable” invasion of Ukraine, his criticism of NATO expansion, and his insistence that the West “provoked” Russia reveal the depth of his alignment with Moscow’s worldview. Farage and his Reform movement are the tools in a decades-long campaign through direct command, and through shared goals: dismantle trust in democracy, erode Western alliances, and replace reasoned politics with perpetual anger. Farage as a fascist knows his next move is to gain power through the ballot box. Following that, the dismantling of the democratic system and replacement with his authoritarian regime. The Russians are not coming. They have already won their quiet war not with tanks or troops, but with propaganda, money, and manipulation, and the active participation of Farage and his secret army of Fascists. Their victory is visible every time a politician like Farage blames Britain’s struggles on migrants instead of oligarchic corruption, every time the Daily Mail echoes disinformation, and every time the government prioritises division over unity."
Now say the 2nd bit!
Which person was heavily involved in Brexit, perhaps even leading a party named “The Brexit Party” (which has now rebranded as a political party pretending to stand up for British interests), whilst clearly being an absolute traitor to both Britain and humanity in general?
“I used to wonder how it was possible that Farage could have won in place in parliament given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your man. If money was your only religion, you found your man. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your man. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your man. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your man. If you were a conman, you found your man. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your man. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your man. If you were a white supremacist, you found your man. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the MP’s role could fill it, you found your man. man. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Farage. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Farage did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Farage’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum
Great quote. Also, worrying quote.
I know this one…rhymes with Garage because its a dumping ground for stuff you need to throw out.
Farage would like you to think he was heavily involved in Brexit, but he really wasn’t. He wasn’t even allowed to participate in the official Leave campaign. Brexit came about due to a longstanding faction in the Tories (the European Research Group) becoming galvanised by Daniel Hannan’s work to prepare a cohesive case for Brexit and putting pressure on the One Nation Tories.
Ooo ooo… I know this one. Pick me. Pick me!
Alright! It was you, mannycalavera!!
The news is not this, which everyone who was paying the least attention knew: it’s that it is finally being publicly acknowledged, and that the referendum is no longer seen as the sacred and inviolable Will Of The People.
Having said that, if only Zelenskyy had been around to bomb those Yandex data centres in 2016…
No shit sherlock
