Russian actors circulated leaked trade documents between London and Washington, said Dominic Raab. (File)
London:
Britain accused Thursday of “Russian actors” of seeking to disrupt last year’s general elections by circulating leaked trade documents between London and Washington.
The government launched an investigation into the source of the leak, after details of talks with the United States on a possible post-Brexit trade agreement were published on the social media site Reddit.
The main opposition Labor party has said the records prove that the government “will sell” the state-run National Health Service (NHS) to American businesses.
Funding for the NHS was a key issue in the campaign before the December 12 vote.
Jeremy Corbyn, then leader of the Labor party, rejected as a “conspiracy theory,” says the leak used in his campaign was posted by Russia, but did not say where the party got it.
But Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Thursday that the government had concluded, after “careful analysis”, that there was a strong suspicion of a link with Russia.
“Based on an in-depth analysis, the government has concluded that it is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere with the 2019 general elections by amplifying online government documents that were illegally acquired and disclosed,” he said. he said in a written statement to parliament.
The accusation, although not aimed directly at the Kremlin, risks worsening the already strained relations between London and Moscow.
The ties were strained after Britain pointed the finger at Russia for trying to kill double agent Sergei Skripal in the southwest English town of Salisbury in 2018.
A long-awaited report on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 Brexit vote, to be released by the Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee in the coming days, could also exacerbate diplomatic tensions.
Raab said of the leak: “Sensitive government documents relating to the United Kingdom-United States free trade agreement were illegally acquired before the 2019 general elections and disseminated online via the platform. form of Reddit social media.
“When these did not gain ground, new attempts were made to promote the material illegally acquired online in the run-up to the general elections.
“Although there is no evidence of a large-scale Russian campaign against the general elections, any attempt to interfere in our democratic processes is completely unacceptable.”
Raab added that a criminal investigation was underway, which prevented him from giving further details.
But he promised Britain would “call and respond to malicious activity”, and supported recent measures taken by Berlin against alleged Russian hacking by the German parliament in 2015.
He also supported recent German measures to impose sanctions on Russia because of the suggestions of a Russian military spy targeting prominent politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
