Starmer facing calls for inquiry into Labour thinktank’s investigation of journalists | Labour
Keir Starmer is facing calls from MPs for an investigation into the production of a report containing “unfounded allegations” about journalists investigating a think tank linked to the prime minister.
The calls increase pressure on Cabinet Minister Josh Simons, who has produced a report on journalists investigating think tank Labor Together to help Starmer return to power in 2023.
According to sources and documents seen by the Guardian, the research was paid for and subsequently reviewed by Simons while he was director of Labor Together.
In a deal drawn up by Apco Worldwide and addressed to Simons, the public relations consultancy agreed to “investigate the sources, financing and origins” of a November 2023 Sunday Times report about the think tank, in addition to other journalistic investigations into the group.
The Sunday Times reported that the contents of Apco’s investigation were shared informally with Labor figures in 2024, including current cabinet ministers and special advisers. The report contained allegations about the newspaper’s journalists, Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke, which were later spread to Westminster.
The newspaper reported that Apco senior executive and former Sunday Times employee Tom Harper wrote that he reviewed “the sourcing, financing and origins of the Sunday Times story” using documents and “confidential human resources investigations.”
Harper was said to have made “baseless claims” that the emails supporting the published story were likely the result of a Kremlin hack of the Electoral Commission.
“The most likely culprit is the Russian state or proxies of the Russian state,” he reportedly wrote. Apco’s report also said it referenced Pogrund’s Jewish background and made unfounded allegations about his faith, upbringing, and personal and professional relationships.
Simons was close to the prime minister’s recently departed chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who previously ran Labor Together and whose role in the operation to collect material on journalists is under scrutiny.
An investigation into Apco’s research was launched by the Public Relations and Communications Association’s standards committee, which was welcomed by Simons.
He said in a statement: “I was surprised and shocked to read the report, which went beyond the contract by including unnecessary information about Gabriel Pogrund.”
Simons said he asked for the information to be removed before forwarding the report to intelligence agency GCHQ. Simons said no other British journalists were investigated in any of the documents available to him or Labor Together.
John McDonnell, the former deputy leader and former chancellor of the Labor Party, said on Saturday that he had written to the Labor Party general secretary three times in recent weeks to call for an independent investigation into the incident.
“I copied Keir Starmer on every request,” McDonnell said. “In my opinion, as secretary of the NUJ parliamentary group, this is unacceptable if true.”
Another Labor MP, Karl Turner, said the prime minister should look into the matter himself and meet McDonnell to discuss the issue.
The contract showed Simons specifically sought information about the sources of Paul Holden’s book about McSweeney’s role in Starmer’s rise and relevant articles by US journalist Matt Taibbi.
