A long-awaited report on Russia’s activities in the UK has concluded that the British government “took its eye off the ball” and failed to respond to Moscow’s threat.

A long-awaited report on Russia’s activities in the UK has concluded that the British government “took its eye off the ball” and failed to respond to Moscow’s threat.
The heavily-redacted Intelligence and Security Committee’s report noted that there had been widespread allegations that Russia sought to influence voters in the 2016 Brexit referendum but it would be “difficult – if not impossible” to assess whether any such attempts had been successful.
But the committee said the UK government was “was slow to recognise the existence of the threat”.
It said the intelligence agencies and ministers should have been aware of the risk of Russian interference as a result of “credible open source commentary suggesting that Russia undertook influence campaigns in relation to the Scottish independence referendum” in 2014.
Publication of the committee’s report was postponed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to call a general election and the subsequent delays in setting up the committee in the new parliament.
The report and a press summary were prepared by the previous incarnation of the committee in the last parliament.
The committee said Russian influence in the UK is “the new normal” as successive governments have welcomed oligarchs with open arms.
There were Russians with “very close links” to Vladimir Putin who were “well integrated into the UK business, political and social scene – in ‘Londongrad’ in particular”.
The ISC said it was a priority to “mitigate the risk, and ensure that where hostile activity is uncovered, the proper tools exist to tackle it at source and to challenge the impunity of Putin-linked elites”.
The ISC noted that “a number of Members of the House of Lords have business interests linked to Russia, or work directly for major Russian companies” and these relationships should be “carefully scrutinised” given the potential for Moscow to exploit them.
The committee said: “It has been clear for some time that Russia under Putin has moved from potential partner to established threat, fundamentally unwilling to adhere to international law – the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014 were stark indicators of this.
“We therefore question whether the Government took its eye off the ball because of its focus on counter-terrorism: it was the opinion of the Committee that until recently the Government had badly underestimated the response required to the Russian threat – and is still playing catch up.”
The committee said: “Russia’s cyber capability, when combined with its willingness to deploy it in a malicious capacity, is a matter of grave concern, and poses an immediate and urgent threat to our national security.”
Its report said Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had advised that Russian actors had “orchestrated phishing attempts against Government departments”, including against the Foreign Office and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) during the early stages of the investigation into the Salisbury attacks in 2018.
The committee recommended that the UK government “name and shame” Russia when it is found to be behind hacking or other cyber attack attempts.
It also said ministers should engage in diplomacy to ensure allies do the same.
Its report said: “When attacks can be traced back – and we accept that this is in itself resource-intensive – the Government must always consider ‘naming and shaming’.”
The MPs and peers added: “Whilst the UK must have its own defensive and offensive capabilities, it must also be prepared to lead international action.
“In terms of attribution, it is apparent that not everyone is keen to adopt this new approach and to ‘call out’ Russia on malicious cyber activity.
“The Government must now leverage its diplomatic relationships to develop a common international approach when it comes to the attribution of malicious cyber activity by Russia and others.”
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy tweeted: “It is extraordinary that the Prime Minister took the political decision last October ahead of the General Election to block the publication of this important report that systematically goes through the threat Russia poses to the UK’s national security.
“The report is very clear that the Government has underestimated the response required to Russia and it is imperative we learn the lessons from the mistakes that have been made.
“The Labour Party calls on the Government to study the conclusions of the report carefully and take the necessary steps to keep our country safe.”