Quote:Downing Street has effectively blocked the publication of a potentially explosive parliamentary report on the security threat that Russia poses to the UK until after the general election. The 50-page document from the intelligence and security committee examines allegations that Kremlin-sponsored activity distorted the result of the 2016 EU referendum, but has to be cleared by No 10 before it can be released. Downing Street indicated on Monday that it would not approve publication before parliament is dissolved on Tuesday evening, meaning that it cannot now appear before the election on 12 December.
A No 10 spokesman declined to outline when the report would eventually be published. “There are processes reports such as this have to go through before publication, and the committee is well informed of these,” he said. The committee’s chairman, Dominic Grieve, said the decision to prevent publication before the election was “jaw-dropping” and that he could not understand on what basis it had been made.
“The protocols are quite clear. If the prime minister has a good reason for preventing publication he should explain to the committee what it is, and do it within 10 days of him receiving the report. If not it should be published,” he said. A final draft of the Russian dossier, the product of 18-months work, was sent to Downing Street on 17 October and was originally intended for publication early this week. Political approval had been expected by the end of last week. It was intended to be the last step in what is conventionally a complex sign-off process. The report has already been cleared by Britain’s spy agencies, which contributed to the research. No 10 blocks Russia EU referendum report until after election | Politics | The Guardian
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