Boris warns of ‘realistic possibility’ of Russian interference in election

Russian interference in the General Election is a “realistic possibility”, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has warned.

Mr Johnson claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin would “rejoice” if Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn won control of 10 Downing Street.

And he said that it was clear that Mr Putin was behind cyber-security breaches during the presidential elections in the US and France, where eventual victor Emmanuel Macron’s emails were hacked on the eve of polling.

The Foreign Secretary was speaking during a visit to Newport, south Wales, on the day of a massive cyber-attack on the NHS.

Asked if he feared Russia may seek to influence the June 8 election, Mr Johnson told the Daily Telegraph: “I think it is a realistic possibility. Clearly we think that is what he did in America, it’s blatantly obvious that’s what he did in France. In the western Balkans he is up to all sorts of sordid enterprises, so we have to be vigilant.”

Mr Johnson suggested Mr Putin’s motive was “to undermine faith in democracy altogether and to discredit the whole democratic process”.

And when asked whether Russia might attempt to improve Mr Corbyn’s prospects of power, he replied: “Putin would certainly rejoice to see British defences weakened, Britain’s foreign policy become less active, to see us detached from the United States, that would be absolute grist to Putin’s mill, that would be just what he wants.”