During the first lockdown in the Spring of 2020, the UK’s 77th Brigade was deployed on social media to counter notional misinformation about coronavirus.

This effort rather ties in with the constant media coverage of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, about whom I wrote yesterday.

Britons all had to be on a war footing, as led by Government and the media.

On June 30, 2020, From Behind Enemy Lines posted about the 77th Brigade’s coronavirus campaign (purple emphases mine):

On 22nd April, 2020, a high ranking soldier spoke at one the the UK Government’s coronavirus war room briefings to talk about how the British Army had been deployed in an information warfare capacity as part of the Covid-19 response. Because early on in the coronahoax there was an effort to create an impression that the country was “in it together” in a collective struggle against a disease, there’s no doubt the presentation was for the sake of reinforcing feelings of the blitz spirit in the gullible watching public. However, it actually amounted to an admission that the British Armed Forces were engaged in hostilities against the British people, and for this, because the outcome has and will be impoverishment as if people had actually suffered in a war, the perpetrators of this crime will need to go to jail.

The specifics involve the so-called 77th Brigade, of which the General Nick Carter, Chief of the Defence Staff, had this to say:

And we’ve been involved with the Cabinet Office Rapid Response Unit, with our 77 Brigade helping to quash rumours from misinformation, but also to counter disinformation.

If the reader doesn’t know, the Cabinet Office Rapid Response Unit basically acts to propagandise for the purpose of the Executive’s agenda …

As for the 77th Brigade, it could be called a consultancy and aid to UK Government in the course of its efforts to shape perception. Of course, this is not the official remit of the 77th Brigade that UK Government would like the public to perceive, particularly in the context of what is being portrayed as a public health crisis. On the contrary, it would be a section of the military dedicated to all matters cyber in relation to defence against foreign powers who are looking to use information technology to gain a strategic or tactical advantage. At the UK Defence Journal, at the time of it, there was an extrapolation from Carter’s briefing to better explain the role of the 77th Brigade along the lines that UK Government would surely like the public understanding to be:

77th Brigade specialise in “non-lethal” forms of psychological warfare, using social media including Facebook and Twitter to fight with information in response to external factors, like Russian misinformation.

Their target is Russian propaganda, propaganda that is notably very active around NATO troops deployed to the Baltics alleging that the soldiers there are criminals and rapists. The point of units like 77th Brigade is to counter this kind of threat.

… the Brigade’s website … says that “Disseminating Media” is a role within its brief (a fuller account is “Collecting, creating and disseminating digital and wider media content in support of designated tasks”); additionally, when the Independent reported on how Twitter’s “head of editorial” for Europe, the Middle East and Africa was an officer in the 77th Brigade, it noted another function whereby “Troops were to deliver ‘means of shaping behaviour through the use of dynamic narratives’”. This is when, with interest, we must note that the 77th Brigade was formed in 2015 in a restructuring of military units including the 15 Psychological Operations Group and Media Operations Group. It was a reforming of the Security Assistance Group (SAG) which worked with Whitehall agencies – so supposed civilian Government – and when the 77th Brigade website talks about “supporting counter-adversarial information activity” it must mean, in the context of coronavirus, that which is done to maintain the narrative of a coronahoax by the Cabinet Office Rapid Response Unit. Perhaps the most damning statement on the 77th Brigade’s website is this:

77th Brigade is an agent of change; through targeted Information Activity and Outreach we contribute to the success of military objectives in support of Commanders, whilst reducing the cost in casualties and resources.

… Of course, banning information serves to create kudos about it – it makes it look as if the information is covered up, or is even being countered by the Cabinet Office Rapid Response Unit with 77th Brigade assistance.

On October 2, 2020, OffGuardian wrote about the 77th Brigade’s activities. The Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood announced in the House of Commons that he was a member of it:

On the 28th September Tobias Ellwood, Tory MP for Bournemouth East, stood up in Parliament and suggested that the British Army and the Ministry of Defense be in charge of distributing and administering “millions of doses” of the Sars-Cov-2 vaccines, as well as issuing “vaccination certificates” which will “allow travel”.

And that’s just the highlights, there’s a lot more vaguely sinister language, camouflaged in his rather drab monotone voice. (You can watch the whole speech here, go to 20:24).

This is a concerning development, one very much worth keeping an eye on. The BBC don’t think so, of course, because the call for what would easily amount to medical martial law didn’t even make it into their “Today in Parliament” programme.

This is not new behaviour for Ellwood. He has always been a consistent voice for use of the military in response to the “pandemic”. On the 18th of September he requested the Prime Minister make “greater use of our fine armed forces”.

He specifically mentions “managing the narrative”, which is no surprise considering his role as a former Army officer, a current reserves officer, and his known affiliation with the 77th Brigade. For those who don’t know: The 77th is the British army’s team of “facebook warriors”. An information warfare unit whose job is to “counter misinformation”, “manage the narrative” and generally corral and control the internet conversation.

Here’s the Hansard record from September 28 in a debate on the upcoming vaccine. Ellwood said:

The scale and complexity of the challenge is up there with the D-day landings and Dunkirk. To put it politely, we must learn the lessons of the PPE roll-out, testing and track and trace. Mass vaccine roll-out is an enormous responsibility, and we need to get it right. Planning must start immediately, and I have written to the Prime Minister recommending that he consider calling on the Ministry of Defence to establish a small taskforce, led by a senior empowered voice of authority, to begin the planning and design of a draft blueprint. The armed forces have the capacity, the logistical experience and the national reach to take on this mammoth, incredible task, and they are not overburdened by any current duties involving tackling covid-19.

Let us pause to consider what is involved: the logistics of shifting millions of refrigerated vaccines across the country; creating regional distribution hubs, which then feed into mobile testing centres; developing a national database to track progress and issue vaccination certificates, which will probably have to be internationally recognised in order to allow international travel; establishing an order of priority for who receives the vaccine first—key workers, the vulnerable and teachers, for example—and answering more detailed questions about potentially using schools to vaccinate children. All those things must be planned for. With the co-ordination of Whitehall Departments, local authorities, the private sector, policing and security to consider, as well as military support, I hope I make the case for why we need to start thinking about this now.

I believe that the biggest challenge will be in managing the transition period—potentially up to a year—when parts of our society have been liberated from the threat of covid-19 and seek to return to normality, but those who have yet to be vaccinated are still subject to social distancing rules. We need to get the planning right today so we can avoid the logistical challenges that we suffered with PPE and testing. In the spirit of global Britain, we can then share our blueprint and plans with other nations, especially those without such advanced logistical capabilities as ours.

On November 27, 2020, the Bournemouth Daily Echo reported that Ellwood was unhappy that his constituency was being placed in a higher, restrictive coronavirus restrictions tier:

SEVERAL of Dorset’s Conservative MPs have spoken out in disappointment and opposition to the government’s decision to put the county in Tier 2 coronavirus restrictions.

From the end of the second national lockdown in England next week, both BCP and Dorset Council areas are set to be subject to the High Alert level having previously been in Tier 1.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope have all confirmed to the Daily Echo that they will not be supporting the Government’s legislation on the tiers and winter Covid plan when it comes before Parliament on Tuesday, December 1.

Ellwood was right on this occasion:

“I raised this with a minister yesterday. The decision was made last night at a gold command meeting and they were looking at data from seven days and 14 days ago for an event which is going to begin a week from now.

“It is deeply frustrating. I know you need a couple of days to prepare but it is different. You are not preparing for further lockdown measures, you are preparing, if anything, to ease, therefore that is always easier to do. You need a little bit of head time to prepare but it is much easier to open up than it is to close down at short notice.

“I will be joining Robert Syms and other colleagues who will not be supporting this legislation when it is presented to Parliament next week.”

However, just under a month later, Ellwood attended a Christmas party in London. At that time, no parties were allowed, only business meetings. On December 17, Guido Fawkes reported on the hypocrisy involved (red emphases his):

In 2022, he got on his high horse about Boris’s partygate, never mind his attendance at the aforementioned Christmas do.

On May 25 that year, Guido covered what Ellwood had said in the House of Commons:

A brave and principled Tobias Ellwood stood up in the Commons this afternoon to declare the PM must now go, and that his rule breaking means the Tories won’t win the next election. Amid heckles from his own front bench, Ellwood told the Commons:

A question I humbly put to my colleagues is are you willing, day in and day out, to defend this behaviour publicly? Can we continue to govern without distraction given the erosion of the trust with the British people? And can we win the general election on this current trajectory?

Of course, Ellwood is speaking from the heart here and not manoeuvring himself for a crack at the top job. This is obvious as no-one who, for example, broke Covid rules themselves at a widely-attended dinner and drinks do would risk getting on such high horse about the Prime Minister’s cake-based conduct. It would also be especially awkward if said event happened in December 2020, two days before one of the Downing Street parties. It would be additionally hypocritical if the MP’s rule breaking had been called an “egregious” breach of Covid rules by the Home Secretary. Anyway, Guido thought Tobias’s intervention was worth highlighting…

From the archives: Patel Slams Ellwood’s Christmas Party as “Clear Breach” of Rules, December 2020

Ellwood was one of the Conservative MPs working hard to remove Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. Ellwood also made his Brexit views known and said we should rejoin the EU single market.

One week later, on June 1 that year, Guido reported:

Tobias Ellwood may have helped the PM out today, as he’s paused his campaign to kick Boris out of Downing Street to begin a campaign to get Britain back into the free market. Accepting uncontrolled immigration…

An article today, published just one week after he took to the Commons encouraging fellow Tory MPs to defenestrate the PM, claims all the problems of inflation, cost of living, the Irish Protocol, exports and business investments would be solved by “rejoining the EU single market”:

leaving this aspect of the EU was not on the ballot paper, nor called for by either the Prime Minister or Nigel Farage during the 2016 referendum. There was, however, much discussion about returning to a “common market,” which is exactly what I propose.

Refusing to rejoin, Ellwood argues, would be “churlish”. It’s almost like Ellwood is proving Michael Heseltine right:

Ellwood’s opinions did not go down well in some quarters, including his constituency’s Conservative association.

On June 10, Guido told us that Boris was reluctant to reshuffle his Cabinet:

… it turns out there’s one man to blame for putting Boris off the idea: top coup instigator Tobias Ellwood. As rumours circulated throughout the week about potential personnel changes, Guido understands that when privately asked about it, Boris said “the trouble with a reshuffle is it’ll create another load of bloody Tobias Ellwoods…” In fact, Ellwood has become so unpopular with some of his colleagues that at least one minister has even blocked him on Twitter, having finally lost patience…

Party frustrations with Ellwood aren’t just limited to SW1. Guido also hears whispers from within his local association down in Bournemouth East that members are considering a campaign to deselect him as the candidate ahead of the next general election, following his genius idea to rejoin the EU single market and open the doors to uncontrolled immigration. One member even claimed to be “ashamed” of voting for him, with an online #EllwoodOut campaign also picking up steam. This will all no doubt come as a huge surprise to a man whose constituency voted 55% for Leave in 2016…

On July 18, he failed to turn up for a vote of confidence in the Government.

The following day, Guido reported that Ellwood lost the party whip as a result:

A government source says:

Tobias Ellwood MP has lost the Conservative Party whip following his failure to vote in support of the Government in the confidence vote last night.

Guido understands Ellwood was given prior warning of the debate happening and his previous slip being rescinded. However he still failed to turn up. He was also warned of the repercussions if he didn’t turn out to back the government, however despite this he chose to ignore all communications. Other MPs cancelled foreign trips and left poorly relatives to attend. One MP’s mother died on the morning of the vote and still attended the vote…

Guido posted Ellwood’s excuse:

Following my meeting yesterday with the President of Moldova I was unable to secure return travel due to unprecedented disruption both here and in the UK.

I am very sorry to lose the whip but will now continue my meetings in Ukraine promoting the Prime Minister’s efforts here and specifically seeking to secure the re-opening of Odesa port – so vital grain exports can recommence.

Hmm.

On October 22, Ellwood made his sentiments about then-Prime Minister Liz Truss known on Twitter:

The free mkt experiment is over – it’s been a low point in our Party’s great history.

The reset begins.

Time for centrist, stable, fiscally responsible Government offering credible domestic & international leadership.

GB News’s Mark Dolan showed us the original tweet and said that Ellwood deleted it:

Dolan said, in part:

‘The Conservatives, the so-called natural party of government, risk becoming the natural party of opposition …

‘The most revealing tweets are the ones which are swiftly deleted … 

Mark Dolan on Tobias Ellwood MP tweeting the free market experiment over and that ‘the reset begins’.

That wasn’t the only pronouncement that raised eyebrows. I’ll get to that in a moment.

On February 12, 2023, Ellwood reprised his comments about the need for a centrist government in an interview with GB News’s Camilla Tominey. Ellwood criticised the deputy chair of the Conservative Party, Lee Anderson MP, ‘for not appealing to the centre ground’. Guido has the video.

I have news for Tobias Ellwood: more Britons agree with Lee Anderson than they do him.

On March 15, UK Column wrote about Ellwood’s involvement in the 77th Brigade and his chairmanship of the Defence Select Committee:

The unlawful deployment of 77th Brigade’s information warfare capabilities during the pandemic, with the Brigade spying on the general public and on Members of Parliament, has raised a number of constitutional issues.

These include questions about how the Rt Hon. Tobias Ellwood MP can be eligible to sit as the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East and can chair the House of Commons Defence Select Committee whilst also being a reservist Lieutenant Colonel for the Brigade.

This dual office-holding surely brings both the Armed Forces and Parliament into grave disrepute. As an MP, Ellwood is required to faithfully discharge the high trust put on him by the electors of Bournemouth East to, amongst other things, freely and impartially debate and vote upon Armed Forces legislation, without whose regular renewal the Bill of Rights outlaws the existence of any British armed forces. He has also been tasked with holding the Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence to account as Chairman of the Defence Select Committee.

Ellwood’s committee chairmanship is particularly concerning in light of revelations of 77th Brigade’s activities during the pandemic. This is because he has chaired the Defence Select Committee since 29 January 2020 and thus during the whole of the pandemic. [1]

Was Ellwood briefed on or involved in 77th Brigade’s pandemic role? Could his dual office-holding have contributed to the Committee’s evident failure to conduct hearings into the Brigade’s activities now that they have come to light? …

The loophole that allows Ellwood to sit in Parliament and hold the chairmanship of the Defence Select Committee was created in 1957 and is now found in s. 3 of the 1975 Disqualification Act.

The section exempts from disqualification retired or emergency-list, emergency-commissioned and reservists of the regular Armed Forces. Should such people be recalled for service, they are not then disqualified, despite it being the case that a regular MP will be disqualified if he signs up with the Armed Forces. Such non-disqualified reservists in Parliament will then be obliged to accept orders on matters that they may have a duty to debate in Parliament.

… we are now in the absurd position of Tobias Ellwood potentially having to be called up by 77th Brigade to spy on MPs on behalf of the Crown in its Cabinet Office guise during any national crisis, whilst chairing the very Defence Select Committee that should safeguard against such atrocities.

… there should … be an urgent move to strip Tobias Ellwood of his chairmanship of the Defence Select Committee so that it can freely and impartially debate 77th Brigade’s pandemic deployment and the war in Ukraine without any perception of bias …

For example, Ellwood and pensioned MPs who are veterans could hypothetically be prohibited from discussing the activities of 77th Brigade under the Official Secrets Acts, yet it could be their fiduciary duty to discuss such things as an MP on behalf of constituents …

77th Brigade activities during the Covid–19 pandemic highlight serious constitutional issues that had been resolved centuries prior and then were undone. This should be urgently rectified with legislation to restore the honour of the House of Commons and its freedom and impartiality, so that Britons can never again be slaves to any form of arbitrary military dictatorship or martial law, such as the despotic mobilisation of 77th Brigade by HM Government to target British subjects for the purported crime of lawfully opposing government policy.

However, as serious as that is, it looks like small beer compared to what happened a few months later.

On July 18, Ellwood circulated a short video wherein he praised the Taliban!

The Guardian has more:

In a tweet and accompanying video, Ellwood described Afghanistan as a “country transformed” and talked up the group that seized power in August 2021, claiming “security has vastly improved, corruption is down and the opium trade has all but disappeared” …

On his GB News show that evening, Jacob Rees-Mogg covered what Ellwood said and interviewed fellow Conservative MP Mark Francois, who serves on the Defence Select Committee. Their exchange starts at the 42:00 point:

Rees-Mogg was perplexed by it all and Francois was annoyed that Ellwood referred to himself as the Chairman of the committee in the video, which, Francois said made it look as if that was the select committee’s view. Clearly, it wasn’t — and isn’t.

The next day, July 19, Francois and other Defence Select Committee members — Richard Drax (Conservative), Kevan Jones (Labour) and Derek Twigg (Labour) put in a motion of no confidence in Ellwood as chairman.

Guido posted a screenshot of the motion and an update on Ellwood’s world of grief at that point:

… Ellwood has faced a strong retaliation to his remarks, not least from Mark Francois, who blasted the “silly and naive” intervention. As a result, a remorseful Ellwood told Piers Morgan Uncensored, that “the last couple of days have probably been my most miserable as a Member of Parliament”. Guido’s heart bleeds.

Ellwood carried out a swift retreat, at Piers’ request he deleted the video and he has since issued a clarifying statement. This hasn’t deterred the Defence Committee’s counter-offensive. The Times reports Tobias was informed of the plot on Wednesday, as MPs have tabled a confidence motion – meaning a vote will take place in September. The rebels are confident of victory.

The aforementioned Guardian article had this:

A vote will not take place imminently, however, as the Commons is breaking up for the summer recess on Thursday afternoon.

After the backlash, Ellwood said: “The last couple of days have probably been the most miserable as a member of parliament,” adding: “I got it wrong.”

He called the row a Twitter “storm” and said he stood by criticisms in the video about Britain’s lack of engagement with Afghanistan’s new leadership since the chaotic exit of western countries’ armed forces from Kabul nearly two years ago.

But Ellwood used a TV interview to repeatedly apologise, and said the video “could have been much better done”.

“It’s important to put your hand up and acknowledge errors, however well intentioned,” the Bournemouth East MP and former army captain told TalkTV.

“I stand up, I speak my mind. I try and find solutions especially on the international stage, and I’m very, very sorry that my reflection of my visit could have been much better worded and have been taken out of context.”

While on a trip to India with the defence select committee, Ellwood deleted the video and issued a statement saying his reflections about Afghanistan under Taliban rule “could have been better worded” and he was sorry for “poor communication”.

Ellwood said the video, which critics said had a “wish you were here” feel and was set over uplifting music, was meant to focus on his push for Britain to reopen its embassy in Afghanistan.

After his visit there with the Halo trust, which helps clear landmines from former war zones, Ellwood said he had been repeatedly drawn to Afghanistan since losing his brother in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing.

“During my visit last week, I witnessed something I did not expect to see – an eerie calm and a visible change in security, corruption and opium growth which I felt obliged to report,” he said in the statement.

“But I also saw a very vulnerable economy that will soon collapse without international intervention, turning this country into a failed state, with terrorist camps no doubt returning and triggering mass migration.”

Having been criticised for glossing over the erosion of women’s and girls’ rights under the Taliban, Ellwood said in the statement he had witnessed the “increasing restrictions” they faced.

“This suggests our current strategy, of shouting from afar, after abruptly abandoning the country in 2021, is not working. My simple call to action was to see our embassy reopen again and pursue a more direct strategy to help the 40 million people that we abandoned.”

Parliament returned from summer recess on Monday, September 4.

On Wednesday, September 13, Ellwood resigned as the chairman of the Defence Select Committee.

Guido reported:

Tobias Ellwood has resigned as the Chair of the Defence Select Committee. There were whispers swirling today that he was to face a no-confidence motion as soon as tomorrow, with Mark Francois and Richard Drax leading the charge for the Tories to turf him out. Kevan Jones and Derek Twigg were doing the same for Labour. This all kicked off after Ellwood claimed Afghanistan was a “country transformed” with security “vastly improved” since the Taliban seized power in 2021. Sounds like he’s jumped before he was pushed…

Politicians like Tobias Ellwood are potentially dangerous. They are so puffed up with themselves that they cannot see what they say and do can have serious ramifications. I hope that the Conservatives of Bournemouth East deselect him for the upcoming general election.