MP Comments on Covid Vaccine Recorded by Secret Unit

Bell Ribeiro-Eddy: 'Obviously, the amount of material included goes well beyond misinformation about Covid' Credit: Getty

An MP who asked the government about prioritizing people with learning disabilities for a Covid vaccine has his comments logged by a covert unit that The Telegraph could reveal.

Documents reveal anti-disinformation unit (CDU), a group set up by ministers to deal with perceived internal and external «threats», had information on Bella Ribeiro-Addi, Streatham's Labor MP.

One of her actions, recorded by the unit, was a parliamentary question in which she asked then Health Secretary Matt Hancock, «What assessment did he make of the potential merits of priority vaccination for people with mild to moderate learning disabilities.»

Details on information held by her came to light after a Member of Parliament submitted a subject access request, which allows a person to request personal information held about them by an organization.

This showed that employees had records of questions about the coronavirus vaccine deployment, as well as details of her «primary interests» such as «care workers», «cancer services» and «people with learning disabilities».

'No. evidence of monitoring or registration”

The Telegraph has previously revealed how the CDU has worked with social media in an attempt to limit discussion of lockdown policies during the pandemic

In a letter attached to the publication of the SAR, the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports stated that it «included all data held on the accounts of current or former CDU employees.»

A government spokesman said that «mentions in requests on access to subjects are not evidence of monitoring or registration. adding that there is a «complete ban on the transmission of the content of journalists and deputies to social networks.»

However, on Friday, Ms. Ribeiro-Addi and other deputies said they were «concerned» by the activities of the CDU.

“ Clearly, the scope of material included goes well beyond misinformation about Covid.”

When the Covid vaccine was introduced, the priority list included only older people with learning disabilities, people with Down syndrome, or people with “severe” learning disability.

Activists and charitable organizations called for this. be considered and Ms. Rebeiro-Addi asked her parliamentary question in January 2021. At the end of February 2021, access was expanded to include everyone on the learning disability register.

Using public funds questioned

Ms. Ribeiro-Addi also questioned «the apparent use of public funds to monitor people expressing political disagreement with government policies.»

The news is likely to heighten concerns about the amount of information being collected by the CDU and the reasons MPs are being withheld.

Over the past two weeks, The Telegraph has exposed the work of a controversial unit that was created in 2019 to fight with disinformation around European elections.

In March 2020, the mandate of the CDU was expanded to include «identifying and responding to dangerous disinformation regarding Covid-19» and was developed by the Department of Culture. , media and sports.

Earlier this year, the CDU moved into the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

Big Brother Watch reported on the activities of the CDU in January. In addition to Ms Ribeiro-Addi, the campaign team found other MPs whose comments or opinions were recorded by the unit.

A request for access to the thread from MP David Davies found that the politician was labeled as «highly critical «. government, with most comments criticizing Imperial College and blaming [deleted] personally for the lockdown.»