SCOTTISH Tory calls for an inquiry into Russian interference in the 2014 independence referendum are so “shameless” they’d “make the Kremlin cringe,” an SNP spokesman has said.
On Tuesday afternoon Jackson Carlaw’s party published a press release calling for a probe "into Russia’s indyref interference” - despite the Tory government in London being criticised for refusing to run a probe into Kremlin influence in the Brexit vote.
In a damning report the Intelligence and Security Committee criticised David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson for failing to do more to tackle the Kremlin’s influence.
They also said the government and the intelligence agencies had "actively avoided" investigating possible Russian interference in the EU referendum
The report said Russian influence in the UK was now "the new normal", and said the Tories governments had welcomed oligarchs and de facto agents from Russian with "open arms".
On Scotland, the report said there had been “credible open source commentary suggesting Russia undertook influence campaigns in relation to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.”
Much of the rest of the paragraph is redacted though the footnotes refer to a blog post by Ben Nimmo, a senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, which detailed how “Pro-Russian internet trolls” claimed that the referendum vote was rigged in the wake of the result.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said that merited a full inquiry.
He said:“This report suggests the SNP has questions to answer in relation to Russian interference.
“It has to explain what it knew about this issue and when.
“Given how Scotland and the independence referendum is at the centre of these allegations, it’s essential the Scottish Government orders an inquiry on the matter.
“People will be very suspicious that the Yes campaign’s most dominant figure ended up on the Russian payroll after losing the referendum.
“And over many years SNP figures have been more than happy to indulge questionable Russian media operations.
“It’s clear much work is to be done by both the Scottish and UK governments to ensure future interference is stamped out.”
AN SNP spokesman said the Tories were “playing games”.
He said: "This latest Scottish Tory press release is so shameless it would make the Kremlin cringe.
"We know Tory advisers and MSPs are all busy jumping ship but someone should have taken the time to actually read the ISC report, which exposes the Tory government's abysmal failure to act and calls for an independent inquiry on Russian meddling in Brexit.
"This is a serious report, which deserves a serious response – and of course intelligence and security is a reserved matter. The SNP has backed the ISC recommendation for an independent inquiry - the Scottish Tories should stop playing games and do the same."
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