Ministers were accused of a cover-up last night after it was revealed that soldiers did secretly spy on British critics of the Government’s response to Covid.
The release of new documents contradict official assertions that a shadowy Army unit had only been monitoring foreign powers.
The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this year that military operatives in the UK’s ‘information warfare’ brigade were part of a sinister scheme to keep a close eye on politicians and high-profile journalists who raised doubts about the pandemic response.
They compiled dossiers on public figures – such as ex-Minister David Davis, who questioned the modelling behind alarming death toll predictions, and The Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens – and reported their dissenting views back to No 10.
Documents obtained by the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch revealed the Government cells included the MoD’s 77th Brigade, which deploys ‘non-lethal engagement and legitimate non-military levers as a means to adapt behaviours of adversaries’.