A 47-page report from the UK House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee alleging Russian interference in the Brexit vote has this week set the cat among London’s pigeons. While the Opposition has slammed the government for sitting on the report for close to 10 months, and in effect taking the threat from Russian intelligence lightly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quick to hit back saying the controversy was a plot by Remainers to undermine the referendum of 2016 that saw the United Kingdom leave the European Union.

Mr Johnson has described as “absolutely absurd” suggestions that his government was sleeping at the wheel, even as the report highlighted that Russian intelligence views UK as one of its top targets. The report followed a major inquiry, and saw the Committee take testimony from witnesses over several evidence sessions. It also examined a substantial volume of written evidence and noted with concern the failure of the government to conduct a proper assessment of Russia’s interference in the lead-up to Brexit.

The committee relied on open source studies to highlight the preponderance of pro-Brexit and anti-EU stories on Russian media, and the use of bots and trolls to influence the referendum. In his defence of government actions, Mr Johnson urged Britons to understand what the report was “all about”; that the controversy was fuelled by “Islington Remainers” who were trying to give the “impression that Russian interference was somehow responsible for Brexit.”

The speed with which the report was dismissed has also drawn criticism from security analysts and politicians who fear that Mr Johnson is taking the threat too lightly. Leading the charge was Labour leader Keir Starmer who demanded action against “Kremlin-backed disinformation”. The report contains several substantial findings. It notes that the first known Russian attempt to interfere in Western democratic processes occurred during the Scottish referendum of 2014. But the British Government first acted on the threat Russia posed only after hacked and leaked e-mails from Democrats in the United States surfaced, a month after the Brexit referendum.

It adds that protecting the integrity of British elections has become a “hot potato” with no single agency willing to accept the responsibility. Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, responded with a six-line answer to the Committee’s questions. Finally, the report notes how London is awash with Russian money following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that Russian oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin have bought their way into becoming a part of the British elite. “It is widely recognised,” the report says, “that Russian intelligence and business are completely intertwined.” While Mr Johnson may have dismissed the findings, it would seem the dust is a long way from settling.