Russia report to be released on Tuesday

A highly anticipated report on the nature of Russian interference in UK politics will be released on Tuesday morning.

The post has been delayed since before the 2019 elections, because it was based on a decision by the Intelligence and Security Committee, which was not reformed until last week.

The government has been accused of delaying the formation of the committee to avoid scrutiny.

Downing Street denied that the delay was due to political reasons.

The report is expected to assess the extent of Russia’s interference in the 2017 elections and the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Last week, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said such interference was “almost certain” to have happened.

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It was already known that the report would be released this week after the newly established committee voted unanimously to publish it before the Commons rose for their summer vacation on Wednesday.

It comes after a dispute over the election of Julian Lewis as the new chair of the committee.

Dr. Lewis lost the conservative party whip after being elected by the other committee members before Chris Grayling, who was believed to be the No. 10 preferred choice for the role.

The report is expected to include details of Russia’s use of new techniques such as cyber espionage and social media campaigns to interfere with political life.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says it will also include details of Russian influence, and particularly money, which critics say has leaked into public life and has compromised various institutions.

Since last fall, barely a week has passed in Westminster without anyone demanding to know when we would see what is known as the “Russia report”.

It came up frequently as a question during the general election campaign before Christmas, and government critics asked what it was trying to hide.

The ministers insisted that normal practice was followed before the publication of a potentially sensitive document.

The delay dragged on as it took years for a new Intelligence and Security Committee to form after the elections. That only happened last week.

Now, finally, we will be able to read what his predecessor committee, the politicians, had to say before the elections.