Andy Burnham put forward the position that Russian interference in the Brexit referendum is a matter the UK regards as settled. The Prime Minister stated that upon taking office in the summer he sought clarity on whether Moscow had played a role in the 2016 referendum on EU membership, and received confirmation that interference had taken place.

Burnham argued that placing this on the public record matters for voters in Germany and France, who he suggested need to understand that certain political currents in those countries are being driven by external adversaries, particularly given the growth of populist movements there.

A 2020 review by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee concluded that the Government had not carried out a thorough assessment of how state-backed Russian broadcasters and coordinated online accounts may have shaped opinion during the EU referendum.

During a visit to Berlin earlier in the week, Burnham held talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the Alternative for Germany party — known as the AfD — among the topics the two discussed. Contending with AfD gains in recent German regional votes, Burnham told Chancellor Merz that backing was needed to counter the political pressures his government was encountering.

Burnham separately relayed Merz's view that the AfD had ties to Russia, including what Burnham described as funding connections he believed to exist. Burnham reinforced that position by noting that disinformation originating from Russia had been flowing into German political life. Those remarks followed his address to the UN General Assembly the previous month, where he stated that evidence pointed to Russian attempts to interfere in the 2019 general election.

In a podcast interview scheduled for release on Monday, Burnham stated that foreign interference — attributed to Russia — had influenced political developments in Germany and France, and that voters in both countries deserved clearer information about those activities. He also noted that efforts to communicate the extent of overseas interference with the public had fallen short.

Burnham added that at the Labour Party conference he had outlined a framework for building cross-party agreement on the UK's future ties with the European Union, while leaving open the possibility of a manifesto commitment to rejoin the bloc.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey acknowledged that he and Andy Burnham do not see eye to eye on every matter, while noting that the kind of statement Burnham made was one a Prime Minister ought to have delivered. The decision to speak out came at a point when, according to opposition critics, the Conservative government had long withheld information from the public.

Burnham called for considerably more effort to be directed toward shielding democratic institutions from interference by Russia and other adversarial foreign governments.