Andy Burnham has announced at the UN a new ‘National Centre for Information Defence’ to wage war against ‘untrue narratives’. He claims that “everything we hold dear” is under attack from so-called “misinformation”. This might be the most censorious thing a modern British Government has done. We already have NSOIT, the Government Communication Service, the Media Monitoring Unit, RICU, the Defending Democracy Taskforce, the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit, the FCDO’s Information Threats and Influence Directorate, 77th Brigade, NCSC/GCHQ, the National Cyber Force and the Social Cohesion Taskforce. Is that not enough? How do we know this new body won’t be weaponised to silence dissent and chill free speech? Will it reprimand the Government itself? FSU Director of Policy and Research @DavidRoseUK's new briefing argues that the Government has itself been spreading misinformation about misinformation — exaggerating the scale of the threat it poses. The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, flounced off X, citing the spread of misinformation as a threat to democracy. If government ministers genuinely care about tackling mis- and disinformation, they should stay, debate and challenge falsehoods with more information — not less. It is vital that the UK defends our democracy against hostile actors such as Russia. But safeguards are essential to prevent bodies established for that purpose from expanding their remit to domestic dissent and policing the social media posts of British citizens who criticise government policy. We should remember that more than 62,000 people have reportedly been arrested for “speech offences” in Britain over the past five years — including social media posts. Meanwhile, under its media green paper, Watch This Space, the Labour Government is already proposing measures intended to promote “trustworthy” news sources. The concern is that this could favour established outlets such as the BBC while disadvantaging more critical outlets such as GB News and independent journalism. The Government needs to explain exactly what powers this new Centre will have, who decides what constitutes an “untrue narrative”, and what safeguards will prevent it from becoming a tool for policing lawful dissent. 2026 Britain is turning more into 1984 by the day. We literally now have a Ministry of Truth.