UK took its 'eye off the ball' over Moscow interference threat, report saysUK spy agencies took their "eye off the ball" over Russian interference and the government "badly underestimated" the threat, a watchdog has said, Sky News reports. A long-awaited report from parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) found Vladimir Putin's administration has been engaged in "hostile foreign interference". Ministers "did not want to know" and "actively avoided looking for evidence", one of the committee members, MP Stewart Hosie, added in a news conference. The report also called the Official Secrets Act "out of date", urging the government to pass new laws to curb espionage and "illicit financial dealings" by some of the "Russian elite". "This level of integration... means that any measures now being taken by the government are not preventative but rather constitute damage limitation."

Source: The Standard July 21, 2020 14:37 UTC