Tories complain as ‘Russian interference in election’ to ‘help Nigel Farage’ unearthed
Deputy PM Oliver Dowden says revelations around alleged general election interference are gravely concerning, while Nigel Farage has accused the Tories of 'taking thousands from Russia'
The Deputy Prime Minister has said alleged Russian interference in the General Election campaign is "gravely concerning".
Oliver Dowden was responding to claims made by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which said it had been monitoring five co-ordinated Facebook pages spouting Kremlin talking points - with some expressing support for Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.
Mr Dowden told The Sunday Times: "These revelations reveal the real risk our democracy faces in this uncertain world.
"Malign foreign actors, promoting British political parties, policies and views that fit their agenda is just another example of the challenges in the increasingly volatile cyberspace of the 21st century and is gravely concerning to see during an election campaign."
According to ABC, the pages appeared to have little in common, but were linked through an analysis of the location data attached to the pages' administrators, the tracking of paid ads and an analysis of the pages' similar or shared content.
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The network of pages has a combined 190,000 followers, each featuring criticism of several UK political parties, including the Tories and Labour, according to ABC.
The broadcaster also reportedly found most of the administrators for each page are based in Nigeria, which is a significant connection as previous online Russian propaganda networks were found to have been operating from Africa.
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden has written to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Sir Tim Barrow, the National Security Adviser, asking for the claims to be investigated.
Mr Farage accused the Tories of taking thousands from Russians in a response posted on social media. He tweeted: "The Tory party now sink even deeper into lies and dishonesty.
"They have taken hundreds of thousands from Russians in the last couple of years. Dowden deserves to lose his seat for this hypocrisy."
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It comes as both the Tories and Labour criticised Mr Farage for failing to show leadership in tackling allegations of racism inside Reform UK.
Campaigners for Mr Farage's party in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, were recorded by an undercover journalist from Channel 4 making racist slurs, including about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Footage shows Reform campaigner Andrew Parker using a racist slur about Rishi Sunak and suggesting migrants should be used as "target practice".
Another canvasser described the Pride flag as "degenerate" and suggested members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.
Reform UK has written to the Electoral Commission, claiming Mr Parker, an actor, was a "plant" in the Channel 4 news item.
Mr Farage said the Clacton exposé was "a political set-up of astonishing proportions", highlighting Mr Parker's background as an actor.
He added he was "not going to apologise" as what had happened was a "set-up, a deliberate attempt to smear us".
Meanwhile, Reform has confirmed it has dropped support for candidates Leslie Lilley in Southend East and Rochford, Edward Oakenfull in Derbyshire Dales, and Robert Lomas in Barnsley North.
On BBC Question Time, Mr Farage was challenged about the three's comments and said: "In most cases, they've been disowned."
The three will still appear as Reform candidates on the ballot paper because nominations for the July 4 poll have closed.
