In his response to Kemi Badenoch, Andy Burnham explicitly denied implying that the Brexit referendum result was illegitimate when he made his comment about Russian interference. (See 4.17pm.) The Conservative party has now issued a thoroughly misleading statement ignoring what he said. A spokesperson said:
The leader of the opposition just asked the prime minister, in light of his comments on Russian interference, if he thought the 2016 EU Referendum result was legitimate or illegitimate. Andy Burnham refused to answer.
There can be no doubt that his words to the Rest Is Politics were intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the referendum result. By not answering Kemi Badenoch’s question, Andy Burnham has all but conceded this was a deliberate ploy intended to sow more division, reopen the battles of the past, and bolster his own case for rejoining the EU.
This reads like the sort of statement which gets drafted in advance in expectation of one response in the Commons, and which then gets released anyway even thought it doesn’t apply.
The former Tory PM Boris Johnson is also misrepresenting what Burnham said. He posted this on social media this afternoon.
This is just not true. As soon as I became foreign secretary I asked the security services the same question and they replied that there was no evidence of any successful interference in the 2016 referendum, by Russia or any other power.
Either the security services have changed their view - which would be very odd - or Burnham is lying about what he has been told. After all Starmer was in power for two years and had access to exactly the same information.
You can read what Burnham did actually say on the Rest is Politics at 10.33am.