Hard Brexit plans by ex-MI6 chief hacked and leaked by Russians

Sir Richard Dearlove was to sit on the advisory board of the ‘Operation Sunrise’ group under the short-lived plan. Photograph: Cate Gillon/Getty Images

A group of Russian hackers is believed to be behind the release of a cache of emails obtained from a former director of MI6 and other Brexiters unhappy with Theresa May’s failure to negotiate a “clean” EU exit deal.

Google said the “clumsy campaign” bore the hallmarks of a Russian group it called Coldriver – and the hackers published the correspondence under the title “Very English Coop d’Etat”, claiming it revealed the existence of shadowy group of pro-Brexit plotters.