Russia sees the United Kingdom as the main target in the West, as per the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report.

The new report said that Russia’s influence in the UK is “the new normal”.

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“In brief, Russian influence in the UK is ‘the new normal’, and there are a lot of Russians with very close links to Putin who are well integrated into the UK business and social scene, and accepted because of their wealth,” the report said.

The much-awaited report has criticised and accused successive British governments of welcoming Russia’s oligarchs “with open arms”. 

The committee has accused the Downing Street of delaying the publication of the report ahead of December’s UK election and has called for “immediate action” and should help intelligence services tackle “this very capable adversary”. However, Downing Street has denied the allegations. 

Keven Jones, one of the ISC’s committee members, criticised Boris Johnson for not publishing it sooner as there was “no reason for delay”.

“There should have been assessment of Russian interference in the referendum. And there must now be one, and the public must be told the results of that assessment,” intelligence and security committee member Kevan Jones said.

According to the parliamentary report, the British government should properly investigate any Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum after failing to look into it despite past evidence of Moscow meddling. 

(Inputs from AFP)