MI5 Chief Warns Against Exaggerating “Russian Interference” in Brexit

Ken McCallum, head of MI5, has warned against exaggerating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

MI5 chief Ken McCallum has urged the public not to exaggerate the impact of Russia's alleged efforts to influence the outcome of Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum.

McCallum's comments came after some pro-Brexit politicians accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham of questioning the legitimacy of the vote, claiming it was "clear" that Russia had interfered.

Russia has strongly denied meddling in UK domestic politics, including the 2016 referendum.

"There's a really important difference between an attempted intervention and an outcome that changes... It's very important to focus on the difference between what might have been attempted and what actually resulted," Britain's spy chief said on Tuesday, according to the Guardian.

McCallum suggested that the "Russian trolls" would be "delighted because despite the unremarkable nature of what they do all along the journey, they are back on the front page".

"I'm a little concerned that we're not playing into the hands of our enemies by making these trolls look 10 feet tall," he said.

Without providing supporting data, the MI5 chief claimed that Russian media, including RT and Sputnik, "were heavily involved around the referendum" and that "there was a certain amount of interference through trolls and bots and so on".

British Prime Minister accused Russia of meddling in Brexit (Video)

In 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union, and the government's campaign to remain unexpectedly resulted in the resignation of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.

British reform leader Nigel Farage, who was a leading figure in the Leave campaign in 2016, called Burnham a "liar".

Farage said: "There has been no interference from Russia. And the deception of Russia in this regard is over."

Conservative leader Kimi Badnock accused the prime minister of "implicitly invalidating the referendum result because of Russian interference".

After the backlash, the government said Burnham "fully accepts the result of the referendum".

RT has long tried to influence the Brexit vote. In 2018, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said: "British PR experts failed to properly advertise the benefits of UK membership in the EU and blamed RT and Sputnik for their failure. They cannot accept that their countrymen are capable of thinking for themselves, reading something other than The Times and voting as they please."