Leaked documents cited by Jeremy Corbyn are tied to a previous Russian disinformation campaign, according to internet discussion site Reddit.

The Labour leader used the classified documents detailing trade talks between US and UK officials as evidence of what he said were "secret talks" to sell off the NHS.

"The uncensored documents leave Boris Johnson's denials in absolute tatters," Mr Corbyn told a news conference last week.

Image: Labour says the documents show the NHS is part of post-Brexit trade talks - something the PM strongly denies

The prime minister dismissed the claims as "total nonsense" and his party said the Labour leader had misrepresented the documents and quoted sections out of context.

The documents first appeared in a post on Reddit in October and the site has now said it believes it is "part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from Russia".


It said it had also identified more accounts which had used "vote manipulation" to promote the original post.

Reddit said the accounts "have the same shared pattern" as a Russian campaign found on Facebook earlier this year, dubbed "Secondary Infektion".

The site has banned one subreddit and 61 accounts "under our policies against vote manipulation and misuse of the platform".

Sky's technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe says it is not known if the leaked documents were hacked or obtained by the Russian group - only that they were trying to "amplify" their visibility.

He said what the Russians have been doing "isn't disinformation, because so far as we know the documents are legit".

Manthorpe added: "Labour needs to take this seriously - because, however tenuously, this is increasingly looking like foreign interference in the UK election."

The Facebook campaign this Reddit effort resembles was called Sekondary Infektion after the original Infektion, a Russian disinformation campaign from the 1980s



It was devoted to planting the idea the US invented HIV/AIDS as part of a biological weapons research project — Rowland Manthorpe (@rowlsmanthorpe) December 6, 2019

Asked about the documents on Sky News, Nicky Morgan, culture secretary, said: "We should be concerned, it's obviously those who know more are asserting that this has the hallmarks of Russian interference and we have to be alive to this in terms of our democratic processes.

"The content already, the prime minister has made very clear that does not reflect government policy - the NHS is not for sale.

"It doesn't become our political debate for documents to be flourished around that don't support the assertions being made."

'Russian interference is a concern'

But pushed on why the government had not published the report from the Intelligence and Security Committee which was cleared before parliament was dissolved, she said: "The issue is the report is that the report is sent to the government and then goes to parliament, and the speed with which parliament was dissolved means there hasn't been a parliament to release that report to.

"But the government is taking steps and we are very aware for potential for overseas interference and we are watching for what might be going on. It's important that these are called out politically but also by those who monitor and spot overseas interference."

Earlier this week, experts - including researchers from Oxford and Cardiff universities - also suggested the Reddit leak was linked to the Russian Secondary Infektion campaign.

A government spokesperson said: "Online platforms should take responsibility for content posted on them, and we welcome the action Reddit have taken today.

"The UK government was already looking into the matter, with support from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

"We do not comment on leaks, and it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Highlights from the final campaign debate

Labour has again refused to discuss where it obtained the documents but maintains they reveal a damaging picture of Mr Johnson's intentions.

"These documents reveal the plot against our NHS," said a spokesman.

"And of course neither the UK nor the US government have denied their authenticity. Our releasing them to journalists was clearly in the public interest."

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