This ruling shuts down a long-running debate about whether foreign meddling swayed the Brexit vote—but it doesn’t settle whether it actually happened. Critics will likely see it as a missed chance for transparency, while the government avoids a potentially messy probe. Either way, it leaves bigger questions about election security unanswered.

Strasbourg court rejects attempt to force government to investigate impact of Kremlin interference on elections <ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/22/kemi-badenoch-reshuffle-shadow-cabinet-james-cleverly-tory-david-lammy-keir-starmer-latest-live-politics-news-updates">UK politics live – latest updates</a></li></ul>An attempt by three former MPs to force the UK government to hold an inquiry into the impact of Russian disinformation on the Brexit vote and other recent elections has failed at the European court of human rights.The Strasbourg court <a href="https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-244218%22]}">ruled on Tuesday</a> that countries had a “wide margin” in determining how to tackle attempts at electoral interference, and ruled against a case brought by Ben Bradshaw, Caroline Lucas and Alyn Smith. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/jul/22/uk-does-not-need-to-hold-inquiry-into-russian-disinformation-echr-rules">Continue reading...</a>

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the UK isn’t legally required to launch an inquiry into alleged Russian disinformation campaigns during the Brexit referendum. The case was brought by three ex-MPs who argued the government should investigate Kremlin interference, but the court dismissed their claim.