Russian interference in British politics needs to be looked at - Yorkshire Post Letters

Suspicions regarding Russian interference in the Brexit referendum and wider corruption of UK politics are set to linger. This was underscored on February 9 during an MPs' debate on a petition calling for a full public inquiry into Russian influence.

The petition attracted strong support in Wales, likely because former Reform UK Wales leader and Brexit Party MEP Nathan Gill was recently jailed for accepting Moscow-linked bribes.

Nigel Farage, now a Westminster MP, sat alongside Mr Gill in the European Parliament. Several speakers confirmed they formally notified Mr Farage they intended to criticise him, as convention demands. Yet neither Mr Farage nor any of his Tory-turned-Reform MPs attended. The empty chairs spoke louder than anything they might have said.

The Government offered no public inquiry, instead pointing to the ‘Rycroft Review’ due next month. Yet the Government has excluded the Brexit referendum from its terms of reference - effectively sidestepping the most serious foreign interference allegation in modern British politics.

Furthermore, this three-month review is limited to finance. MPs expressed frustration that it ignores non-financial methods like using the UK legal system to block scrutiny, selective leaking of documents, inciting civil unrest via social media, and using bots to amplify divisive issues.

On the same day as the debate, the Financial Times reported that the US State Department intends to fund ‘think tanks’ across Europe - including in Britain - to influence regulatory discussions in line with MAGA America's corporate priorities. These threads are connected; the debate highlighted that bad actors, whether in Moscow or elsewhere, use similar ‘grey zone’ tactics to undermine us.

In 2016, Jeffrey Epstein - the financier whose networks spanned the political spectrum - greeted the referendum result in an email to Peter Thiel: "Brexit, just the beginning ...return to tribalism, counter to globalisation, amazing new alliances."

We were promised a global Britain. Instead, it seems powerful figures were privately celebrating - and ready to exploit - the "tribalism" we now live with.

Those who voted Leave had genuine concerns about accountability. Where is that same demand for accountability when foreign powers - not 'Brussels bureaucrats' - genuinely interfere in our politics? Why do those who shout loudest about ‘sovereignty’ have so little to say about attacks from these other countries?

The debate also highlighted that cryptocurrency is increasingly used for hard-to-trace political donations. Reform UK is currently the only major party actively soliciting crypto-funding.

Our allies in Europe face these same threats. Look again at Epstein's words. The sovereignty we were promised deserves better protection than this.