MI5 chief says Russia interfered in Brexit vote but impact was limited

Russian broadcasters and trolls targeted voters

The head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency stated that Russian-owned English-language broadcasters RT and Sputnik published biased reports around the time of the vote. He also noted an attempt to influence the result through fake social media accounts operating largely on X. These interference tactics were described as neither particularly sophisticated nor successful by the spy chief.

Officials disagree on political fallout

Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously stated there was clear evidence of Moscow's involvement in the 2016 vote. Some Brexit campaigners reacted negatively to his comments, while others argued debating the issue gives the Kremlin a propaganda victory. Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart described McCallum's remarks as a slap down to the prime minister.