Foreign interference from a new source

Picture this: just days before a UK general election, the polls are on a knife-edge and the result could turn on a handful of votes. Then, out of nowhere, the Vice-President of the United States arrives in the UK, openly campaigning for one party in an attempt to swing the outcome.

Can we imagine what that would be like?

Well we don’t need to imagine that much, because that’s what just happened in Hungary! Fortunately it seemed to have little effect on Hungarian voters as they voted out Trump and Putin ally Viktor Orban after 16 years in power. The presence of Vice President JD Vance campaigning alongside Orban last week did not seem to sway voters. 

Unlock Democracy is glad to see the back of an authoritarian leader who has been eroding democracy in Hungary since taking power in 2010. He has taken control of public broadcasting and the media. He has stacked the courts with loyalists and weakened judicial independence. He’s attacked civil society and he’s been doing his best to gerrymander the elections. 

It is deeply sad that Orban is the kind of undemocratic leader that the current US Government wants to support.

The US has gone from promoting democracy around the world to a new National Security Strategy that describes ‘progressive’ movements as ‘existential threats’ to Western civilisation. They say they are driving ‘civilisational erasure’ through unchecked migration, equality and the erosion of traditional values.

That’s how the Trump Administration now thinks of many European governments, including our own. 

And what Hungary shows is that this isn’t something that’s sitting in a policy document in a drawer in the White House, this is something the US intends to act on. 

The UK has just got its head around foreign interference from countries like Russia and China, now it faces perhaps an even more open threat from Trump’s America. 

It’s bizarre to think this could come from a country with which we have such close links, but as we’ve seen in recent weeks on the Iran war, this isn’t like any other American government we’ve ever seen.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Philip Rycroft’s independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics was published.  It delivers a chilling warning - 

“This country faces a persistent problem of foreign interests seeking to exert influence on, and to interfere in, our politics. Too much of this is malign and seeks to sow distrust and exacerbate divisions in UK society, with the ultimate aim of undermining confidence in our democracy.”

But whether America is going to interfere in our democracy or not, it’s clear that we have to act on Rycroft's report. The only people who should be deciding our political future are British voters, not the President of any other country.

We are delighted that the Government has immediately introduced a donations cap on overseas votes and a moratorium on crypto-donations.

But Rycroft goes much further in his report to tackle what he describes as ‘information warfare’ that risks exposing the UK population to disinformation designed to foment dissatisfaction. 

He calls on the Government to tackle hostile state online interference and for there to be clear accountability for this at Ministerial level. Rycroft also calls for the appointment of a Permanent Secretary who will sustain our democracy and coordinate the response to the threats to it.

We support these calls. Foreign interference is going to evolve as our laws try to prevent it. It needs leadership in government on a day-to-day basis ready to adapt to threats as they arise. Who would have thought two years ago that the threat might come from the USA? 

Rycroft is describing the need for a step change in how the UK approaches foreign interference and judging by what we’re seeing in Hungary, it can’t come soon enough.

This is not a time to keep calm and carry on, it’s a time to act on the clear and present danger to our elections and democracy.

We will be campaigning to persuade the Government to implement ALL Rycroft’s recommendations and to get serious on foreign interference.