Politics

Everything we know so far about the Russia report and when it will be released


The long-awaited report on alleged Russian interference into UK politics is finally set to be published.

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee will drop the lengthy document online this week – ending the months-long wait for details of the investigation.

The document, which was prepared by the committee’s members in the previous Parliament, will emerge just days after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab claimed it was “almost certain” that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2019 election.

But the report was initially prepared before Boris Johnson’s election victory.

Here’s what we know about what will be in the Russia report, why it was delayed and when you’ll finally be able to read it.

When will the Russia report be published?

A Brexit-themed billboard depicting Britain’s former foreign secretary Boris Johnson waving Russian national flags reading “Thank you Boris” is seen in east London (2018)

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) will present the report to Parliament at 10.30am on Tuesday, July 21.

It will be published on the Committee’s website shortly after.

We’ll have full coverage of the report and the reaction to it here on Mirror.co.uk/politics.

Why has it taken so long to publish?

New ISC chair Julian Lewis

The report’s publication was delayed by Boris Johnson’s decision to call a general election and the need to re-establish Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.

When a PM calls an election, all Parliament’s committees are disbanded.

The report had already been prepared by the previous membership of the Intelligence and Security Committee – and handed to Number 10 for approval.

The final document was given to Downing Street on October 17 – and had already been approved for release by the security services.

The Number 10 approval process normally takes around ten days.

But the PM didn’t give sign off to the document until December – the day after he won the election.

The final delay was because only the ISC can actually publish the report – and Downing Street took nearly seven months to set up the new committee.

It was finally set up last week – but there was one final twist.

Chris Grayling

Number 10 was expected to try and install loyal Tory ex-minister Chris Grayling as chairman – leading many to fear the report could be delayed yet further, or shelved entirely.

But in a humiliating blunder last week, Tory MP Julian Lewis managed to beat Grayling to the top job with the help of opposition MPs.

In retaliation for his disloyalty, the Conservative Party withdrew the party whip from Mr Lewis.

The following day, the Committee announced they would publish the report this week.

What is in the report?


We won’t know exactly what’s in it until Tuesday. Members of the ISC are forbidden from revealing its contents before it’s published.

But while its publication was being delayed, Dominic Grieve – the former chair of the ISC, who oversaw the report – said before the election that there was information in it that would be useful to voters.

It’s likely there’s information in the report relating to the Conservative Party’s wealthy Russian donors.

The Sunday Times reported nine party backers were named in the document.

But there are also claims that Number 10 has insisted on some names being redacted from the report – something which is usually only done when there are national security concerns involved.

It’s also claimed there will be evidence that Moscow at least tried to influence the result of both the Scottish Independence and Brexit referendums.





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