Tories attack Burnham over Brexit interference claim

Downing Street is facing a Conservative backlash after Andy Burnham confirmed Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum in an interview with The Rest is Politics podcast. Burnham was not asked, and did not say, whether he thought the interference had any impact on the result.

Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie objected to the prime minister reopening the referendum debate, saying:

Bowie said the referendum was a legitimate vote, pointing to the record numbers who backed leaving the European Union.

Government: the result stands

Ministers moved quickly to contain the row. Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told Times Radio the outcome of the referendum was not in question, and that Burnham had been describing attempts at interference rather than anything more.

Appearing later on LBC, Doughty added that Russian efforts to disrupt British democracy had failed, saying the Russians had not succeeded in their many attempts to undermine the country's democratic processes.

Davey: statement took courage

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey praised Burnham's statement, saying:

Davey argued that more must be done to defend British democracy against the Kremlin and other hostile states, warning of acting before it is too late.

Reform UK to pledge asylum shutdown

Away from the Brexit row, Nigel Farage is set to put immigration back at the centre of the day's politics. Reform UK will announce a pledge to ban anyone from being granted asylum for five years if the party wins office, with Farage and home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf holding a press conference at 11am.

Under the plan, the asylum system would be suspended for a full parliamentary term and any applications in progress declared void. The measures Reform intends to announce include:

• •Scrapping all asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes
• •Deporting claimants rather than hearing around 90,000 outstanding asylum and humanitarian protection appeals
• •Immediately closing resettlement schemes that Shabana Mahmood recently said would reopen, schemes under which around a quarter of those admitted were expected to be Palestinians and women and girls from Afghanistan
• •Deporting anyone who has arrived under those schemes, which Reform says have "no mandate"
• •Reviewing, through the Home Office, the cases of any refugees granted asylum in the last five years
• •Using tariffs to force countries to take back migrants

Farage framed the package as a response to a security crisis, telling The Telegraph the country is facing a national security emergency and that government's first duty is protecting its citizens. On social media he went further: "Today, I am announcing that a Reform UK Government will SHUT DOWN the asylum system."

What comes next in Westminster

Burnham will address the Commons himself after 3.30pm, covering Brexit and restating his view that leaving the EU has done more harm than good, while making the case for a closer relationship with Brussels. MPs may be in for a long sitting: the last time Burnham gave a statement after a recess, it ran for more than three hours and prompted a lewd joke from Kemi Badenoch about the prime minister's stamina.

Backbenchers are expected to press the prime minister on other fronts, including the cost of living, North Sea oil and gas, the Iran war and Ukraine. The rest of the day's diary:

• •11am: AI minister Kanishka Narayan gives a speech
• •11.30am: Downing Street lobby briefing
• •2.30pm: Pat McFadden takes Commons questions
• •Late afternoon: Home secretary Shabana Mahmood makes a statement on the safety of MPs

At Stormont, MLAs will vote on a no confidence motion in Sinn Féin first minister Michelle O'Neill over her support for a protest against the proposed Orange Order march down the Garvachy Road.