In this case, black propaganda (smear) against a Labor PM by the Right wing. The British are used to this kind of soft coup ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG6FR03BqIQ
This is the method that MI6 and FBI operated against Trump in 2016 until today.
The putative lead of a British junta, Lord Mountbatten (backed by the Queen Mother (mother of the present queen), was subsequently assassinated in N Ireland, in 1979.
Today we have Project Fear from the Remain campaign. Stoking up paranoia, leads to fascism or communism. It GB now, there is talk of a similar coup if Jeremy Corbin becomes PM in the wake of the current problems.