Shadow minister says referendum was a ‘legitimate vote’ and PM is seeking to ‘reopen debate’ with statement on Russia’s involvement Burnham to urge MPs to embrace closer ties with EU Ed Davey , the Lib Dem leader, has praised Andy Burnham for confirming that Russia tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 Brexit referendum. (See 9.28am .) In a statement, he said: I’m not going to agree with Andy Burnham on everything, but this statement needed to be said by a prime minister. After the Conservatives suppressed the truth for years, this took courage. We must do far more to protect our democra...