Burnham blames Putin for exploiting Brexit to sow division as he unveils new disinformation defence unit at UN
From the Newshound archive · first published 22 September 2026 · last updated 23 September 2026.
Andy Burnham is due to meet President Trump face-to-face in New York on Tuesday, with no resolution yet in place on the Chagos Islands handover to Mauritius.The Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands. Donald Trump called the deal to hand over the islands "terrible" and "ridiculous," insisting they are "strategically very important.
Andy Burnham told world leaders at the UN General Assembly that Russia had mounted an "industrial-scale assault" on Britain's information environment, accusing Vladimir Putin's agencies of meddling in the 2019 general election and doctoring newspaper articles. He unveiled a new National Centre for Information Defence to counter Russian information warfare. Burnham warned that out-of-work young people were particularly vulnerable to disinformation spread by Russian operatives using bots and fake websites.
Burnham told the UN it is ten years since Brexit and that Britain's experience gives it a 'unique perspective' on Russian interference to share with allies.
Russia's agencies have 'used every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people's fear', Burnham told world leaders.
Burnham's UN debut was overshadowed by a near-empty chamber, with swathes of seats left vacant — in stark contrast to the packed hall that greeted Trump earlier.
