MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum has cautioned against aiding Russian propaganda after Andy Burnham outlined Moscow’s attempts to meddle in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Sir Ken warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s online trolls would be "delighted" should the controversy surrounding the Prime Minister’s statements continue.
The spymaster verified that Russia targeted the vote, whilst simultaneously pointing out the "comparative unimpressiveness" of such operations.
He added that Britain must avoid trying to "play into our adversaries’ hands" through exaggerating the influence of Russian trolls.
Addressing MPs on Monday, the Prime Minister stated Russia attempted to interfere in the 2019 general election "and we think it is inconceivable that this was the first time".
Mr Burnham earlier told The Rest Is Politics podcast he learned upon arriving in Downing Street that it was "clear" Moscow had aimed to disrupt the vote.
Opponents saw those remarks as a strategy to question the referendum's legitimacy – an intention the Prime Minister has strongly rejected.
Speaking at MI5’s Thames House headquarters, Sir Ken said: “There is a really important difference between interference attempted and outcome swayed… It’s quite important to focus on the difference between what may have been attempted and what actually resulted.
“It is a matter of public record including in select committee reports published in 2019 – the DCMS Committee did a bit and the Intelligence and Security Committee did a bit also – that in 2016, before you even get to any secret intelligence… it is openly on the record that Russia Today and Sputnik and other Russian media organisations came in pretty strongly around the referendum.
“And it is also a matter of open source record that there was a certain amount of interference attempted through trolls and bots and so forth.
“I agree strongly with what the Prime Minister said yesterday, we did see a hack and leak thing inside the 2019 general election campaign.”
But he added he was concerned about the ongoing debate about Russian interference.
“It is kind of up to us how far we allow our various adversaries to divide us,” Sir Ken said.
“And I’m a little bit worried that if we all stay in this debate for another few days that Russian trolls who didn’t appear to do all that much at various points over the years, they’ll be delighted because they are front page news again despite the comparative unimpressiveness of what they do at all points along the journey.
“I am a little bit anxious that we don’t play into our adversaries’ hands by making these trolls look 10ft tall.”
The Tories seized on Sir Ken’s comments to continue their attack on Mr Burnham.
Conservative deputy leader Alex Burghart said: “The head of MI5 has issued an extraordinary slap down to the Prime Minister over his comments about Russian interference in the Brexit vote.
“Burnham has been forced into another embarrassing retreat after being caught out trying to question the legitimacy of the referendum result – an intervention he made purely to distract from the pressing issues facing our country.”
