Foreign Financial Influence and Interference: UK Politics

Peter Swallow Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I thank the hon. Member for his support, for his work with the defending democracy taskforce and for contributing to Sir Philip Rycroft’s review. He is quite right that we want to make sure that there is adequate time on Report for Members to make their points, and I am sure that the business managers will ensure that that happens. Regarding resources for the Electoral Commission, we will need to ensure that the resources are adequate to meet any new demands placed on them or other regulators. That will be part of the process of ensuring that the legislation goes through and can be followed through on.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

I thank Sir Philip Rycroft for his important work. In his review, he notes:

“The online environment has created a cheap and relatively simple means of getting anonymised content in front of ordinary people in a way that seeks to undermine their trust in the political process.”

He notes that this activity is “strategic, long-term and patient”, and that

“dissonance is its own reward.”

Does the Secretary of State agree with those findings? What can we do to address the challenge of misinformation and disinformation on social media and in online spaces?

[Steve Reed]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. We have to maintain confidence and trust of the British electorate in the integrity of our elections and election processes. This legislation, and the amendments we will table as a result of the Rycroft review, are intended to achieve precisely that.