According to the

Intelligence and Security Committee Russia report "The Russia report" is the report of the British Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) into allegations of Russian interference in British politics, including alleged Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum and the ...

, released on 21 July 2020, there is substantial evidence that Russian interference in the British economy and politics is commonplace; further to this, evidence was uncovered detailing interference in the

2014 Scottish independence referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or ...

aimed at promoting Scottish independence in an attempt to

divide and conquer The term divide and conquer in politics refers to an entity gaining and maintaining political power by using divisive measures. This includes the exploitation of existing divisions within a political group by its political opponents, and also ...

the UK. The report described the UK as one of Russia's "top targets" as it was "seen as central to the Western anti-Russian lobby". According to the report, British governments have "welcomed the ussianoligarchs and their money with open arms, providing them with a means of recycling illicit finance through the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

'laundromat', and connections at the highest levels with access to U.K. companies and political figures". The committee was not authorised by the UK government to investigate whether Russian interference had affected the

Brexit referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

, since any such investigation was not within the purview of UK intelligence services because any such actions by the security services themselves could be seen as interference, itself undermining democracy.

References

See also