Putin benefits from the refusal to publish the Russian meddling report

It should be a national scandal, but it isn’t. Downing Street’s decision not to release the intelligence and security committee’s report on Russia ahead of the election has generated predictable and understandable anger and confusion. Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Emily Thornberry asked the government what it had “to hide” by not releasing the report. That is a fair question, for much is already known about Russia’s involvement in – if not, influence on – the UK’s democratic processes. 

Most obviously, in 2012 Russia’s embassy hosted the launch party of a group called ‘Conservative Friends of Russia’. The group initially secured high-level support within the party, including from Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former defence secretary and foreign secretary. However, following a scandal – which involved publishing kompromat on Labour MP Chris Bryant – the organisation was dissolved. The group’s point of contact at the embassy was Sergey Nalobin, a first secretary in the political section, who spent five years cultivating leading Tories between 2010 and 2015.

Russia’s embassy might insist that Nalobin – who once described