Stanley Johnson: Brexit vote should be redone if Russians interfered

Stanley Johnson has said the Brexit referendum should be held again if there is evidence there was Russian interference in the vote.

The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant – and father of foreign secretary Boris Johnson – said he was sceptical that there was not interference.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s perfectly obvious the Russians were pretty heavily involved in the American election, more and more comes out, and it’s perfectly obvious to me at least that there is far more in the Brexit vote than has so far come out.”

Asked if he meant Russian involvement, he said: “Yes, absolutely. We are getting the Facebook stuff, the data which went into Facebook, all the tweets, and above all, some mega event like a massive migration crisis in the run-up to the 2016 election.

“If it was proved conclusively that everything I said happened, happened then you might say, some might say, was this a fair fight?

“Let’s not have a second referendum but let’s have a rerun of the first.”

Contemplating what his son, a vocal advocate for the Leave campaign, would think of it, he said: “He is always relaxed, he is a very fine, relaxed man doing a fantastic job as foreign secretary.”

Eloise Todd, CEO of anti-Brexit group Best for Britain, said that “at least one of the Johnson family is thinking clearly”.

She said: “As Stanley says, it’s quite clear that there was a significant degree of unfair play before, during and after the 2016 referendum.

“If the government is confident that people still want this harsh Brexit, it should be brave enough to ask.

“A government that refuses to trust the electorate doesn’t bode well for anyone – that’s why we need a people’s vote on Brexit with the option to remain in the EU.”