This is astonishing. Hot on heels of Newsnight comes this. The government is now literally using our money to *pay* the Daily Mail to publish pro-government propaganda pieces about how well it is handling COVID-19.

‘Sponsored by The UK Government’

So. Many. Questions. In 2014, @pressgazette reported a single one of these articles costs up to £65,000.

And this is what it looks like on desktop. So that& #39;s what? £65k for the article? Then how much for banner and column? Which department is running these? Is it you @Number10press? Can you please fill us in? & #39;Stay alert& #39; is public health messaging. But & #39;how the govt is helping& #39;?!?