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#RussiaReport is released, by Int & Sec Committee - it criticises UK intelligence agencies for their lack of interest in Russian attempts to interfere in the democratic process, saying their & #39;extreme caution& #39; in this was & #39;illogical& #39; 1/
Criticising the apparatus of government the ISC says intelligence agencies could have prepared better before 2017 to detect & counter Russian activities aimed at influencing elections. Written evidence to ISC suggests the govt did not see or seek evidence of Russian success 2/
"no-one in government knew... because they did not want to know" says @StewartHosieSNP at launch of #RussiaReport 3/
The #RussiaReport examines whether the intelligence machine was too focussed on terrorism & took its eye off the ball on state threats, nb Russia, concluding "the Government had badly underestimated the Russian threat and the response it required" 4/
"the government here have clearly let us down" on protecting the security of elections says @KevanJonesMP of the ISC at launch of #RussiaReport 5/
"nobody wanted to take responsibility" for searching for Russian electoral interference, and agencies seemed very nervous about taking themselves to do it says @StewartHosieSNP this was a "scandal" says @KevanJonesMP at launch of #RussiaReport 6/
that should read & #39;tasking themselves& #39;. @StewartHosieSNP notes that MI5 can self task and therefore is particularly unfortunate that the work was not done. The "flashing lights" were there from US says @KevanJonesMP so this was a "major failure" 7/
The #RussiaReport cautions against a return to normal in intelligence operations against Russia post-Salisbury but the ISC argues UK & allies must "push forward with greater emphasis on exposing Russian Hostile State Activity" 8/
Asked whether there should be an inquiry into whether the Brexit referendum may have been influenced by Russian interference @KevanJonesMP says "yes we do" but notes the ISC doesn& #39;t have the power to mandate it 9/
Concerning links between members of the House of Lords and Russian oligarchs, @StewartHosieSNP says there is a "lack of obvious transparency" in the Lords, in declaring members& #39; interests 10/
In defending against cyber attack, the ISC highlights that the intelligence agencies have no clear lines of responsibility, Stewart Hosie says it a "ridiculously complex wiring diagram... isn& #39;t fit for purpose" #RussiaReport 11/
"somebody has to take lead responsibility" for efforts to protect the UK democratic process says ISC chair Julian Lewis, noting that while the agencies& #39; reluctance to self task might be "commendable" in some ways it has resulted in an unsatisfactory situation #RussiaReport 12/
Julian Lewis closes #RussiaReport press conference saying the appointment of his committee was subject to "unprecedented delay and dislocation ... this must never happen again" ENDS
Just adding a last tweet to this thread - if you want to read the #RussiaReport for yourself, it& #39;s here https://docs.google.com/a/independent.gov.uk/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=aW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuZ292LnVrfGlzY3xneDo1Y2RhMGEyN2Y3NjM0OWFl">https://docs.google.com/a/indepen...
