UK politics live: Tories accuse Burnham of being ‘dangerous and divisive’ after he confirms Russian interference in Brexit campaign

Shadow minister says referendum was a ‘legitimate vote’ and PM is seeking to ‘reopen debate’ with statement on Russia’s involvement Burnham to urge MPs to embrace closer ties with EU Andy Burnham made his comment about Russian interference in the Brexit campaign (see 9.28am ) in

Shadow minister says referendum was a ‘legitimate vote’ and PM is seeking to ‘reopen debate’ with statement on Russia’s involvement Burnham to urge MPs to embrace closer ties with EU Andy Burnham made his comment about Russian interference in the Brexit campaign (see 9.28am ) in an interview with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart for their podcast, the Rest is Politics. The full interview is available today for podcast members, but the producers have released extracts to journalists. Here is the full quote on Russia and Brexit.

In it, Burnham specifically addressed the argument made by the Conservative party today – that he should not be raking up the past. Burnham said the government had not done enough to tell people about the extent to which Russia is interfering in western politics. I asked the question coming to Downing Street, ‘Was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia?’ And I’ve had the clear answer that, ‘Yes, there was.’ These things are important now to put clearly on the record, and I believe, help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.

We have had a decade of drift and division that has caused more harm than good. In my view, we are a more fractious country than we were. We have a weaker sense of direction.

And these are all the things I’m trying to fix as prime minister. I want to draw a line on that decade … And one thing I did say to Chancellor Merz yesterday is, ‘We need to support you in taking on the threat that you face and particularly the type of politics that you’re facing.’ He was saying to me that the AfD is clearly linked to Russia, funded, I believe. The Reform UK leader will announce a plan this morning to suspend the asylum system for a full parliamentary term and declare void any applications in progress.

All asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes will be scrapped. Today, I am announcing that a Reform UK Government will SHUT DOWN the asylum system. This is a national security emergency and must be dealt with.

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