NICOLA Sturgeon has accused the UK Government of "negligence" in the face of potential Russian interference. 

The First Minister said Boris Johnson and his ministers "should be taking greater steps to find out" whether Russia tried to interfere in the Scottish and EU referendums. 

She said an Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) investigation "seems to be very explicit that they haven't even bothered to look into" the Brexit vote. 

Ms Sturgeon's comments followed the much-delayed publication of the ISC report following an 18-month inquiry. 

It found Russian influence is the "new normal", while the UK Government only belatedly realised the threat to political processes despite alarm bells ringing over the 2014 Scottish referendum.

READ MORE: Westminster rules out probe into Russian meddling in Brexit

The committee said intelligence agencies and Government departments treated the issue as a "hot potato" with no-one getting a grip on the problem.

The UK Government said there was "no evidence" of successful Russian interference in the Brexit vote but the committee – which oversees the work of Britain's spies – suggested that there was no proper investigation.

MI5 provided just "six lines of text" when asked whether there was secret intelligence on the issue of potential Russian meddling in the referendum.

The UK Government – led by prominent Brexiteer Boris Johnson – has rejected the committee's call for a full analysis of whether Vladimir Putin's government did attempt to influence the result of the 2016 vote.

Elsewhere, the committee said there was "credible open source commentary" indicating Russian influence campaigns in relation to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

Ms Sturgeon was asked about the new report during a coronavirus briefing. 

She said: "I would say firstly, we should not be at any point complacent about the possibility of Russian interference in our democratic processes. 

"Secondly, I don't think you can really draw any conclusions from the three lines or thereabouts that the report has on the Scottish independence referendum, but I would include that in my general remarks about not being complacent about Russian interference, although I would say that the Scottish independence movement and the values I and my party stand for I don't think could be further removed from the kind of values that Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime stand for.

"On the Brexit referendum, it appears that the committee concludes that there's no evidence of interference there because the UK Government hasn't looked for it. 

"And that brings me to my last point... I do think the main message out of an initial reading of this report would be what I think could possibly be described as negligence on the part of the UK Government in the face of potential Russian interference. 

"I hope that this report leads to a much more rigorous approach and to the UK Government taking these threats to our democratic processes much more seriously than they appear to have been doing so far."

Ms Sturgeon said intelligence and security matters are reserved to the UK Government and are not the responsibility of Scottish ministers. 

READ MORE: Committee asked if Alex Salmond is 'defacto agent' of Russia

Asked if she thinks Russia tried to interfere in 2014, she said: "I only know what I read in the report this morning, which is about three lines and a footnote, which seems to suggest that the only evidence the committee was able to source was open source – it wasn't UK intelligence or security information. 

"I don't know that. But what I'm saying is the UK Government should be taking greater steps to find out, whether it's about that part of our democratic process or the Brexit vote where the report seems to be very explicit that they haven't even bothered to look into that. 

"This is a report that has been kept hidden from the public for months. 

"Now that it's out there, I think the questions that should be asked are for the UK Government who are the government responsible for intelligence and security matters."