Starmer orders ethics chief to investigate Labour minister over targeting of reporters
Sir Keir Starmer has ordered his ethics watchdog to investigate a cabinet minister following allegations that a Labor think tank paid for an investigation into journalists.
Josh Simons faces calls to resign as a minister following reports that Labor Together, the think tank he ran before entering government, paid a PR firm to look into a journalist’s personal background in 2023.
The Prime Minister’s principal secretary, Darren Jones, told MPs on Monday that Mr Simons had been referred to independent standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus following an investigation by civil servants in the Cabinet Office’s etiquette and ethics team.
Mr Jones told the House of Commons: “As the Prime Minister confirmed last week, he asked civil servants in the Cabinet Office’s etiquette and ethics team to establish the facts… This work has now been completed and the facts have now been reported to the prime minister.”
“The Prime Minister has been advised that the matter should now be referred to independent counsel on ministerial standards, which the Prime Minister has done today.”
Mr Simons was a director of the think tank at the time he was accused of paying £36,000 to PR firm Apco Worldwide to investigate journalists. Sunday Times, Guard and other publications covering the group’s failure to declare donations of more than £700,000.
The public relations firm’s investigation is said to have resulted in a 58-page report containing details designed to discredit reporters investigating the think tank’s campaign finance violations.
The think tank was fined £14,250 (£730,000 in total between 2017 and 2020) in September 2021 for late reporting of donations after it referred itself to the Electoral Commission.
Mr Jones told MPs freedom of the press was “the cornerstone of our democracy” and the government was committed to supporting and protecting that freedom.
“This is not a new process, it is a continuation of the process started by the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister will make a decision after receiving the advice of the independent consultant.
“This will happen very soon and his advice to the prime minister will be made public in the normal way.”
Alex Burghart, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said it was “difficult to understand” how defensible Mr Simons’ position was following allegations of a “defamation attempt” against journalists.
Mr Burghart told MPs that the report contained “an allegation that the journalists in question relied on Russian hacking” and that it was “completely bogus”.
He added: “This investigation included details of a journalist’s Jewish faith and made allegations about his ideological upbringing and personal relationships.
“The report was then circulated to key members of the Labor Party and GCHQ, who immediately said there was no case to answer.
“This appears, to all intents and purposes, to be a deliberate attempt to denigrate and intimidate journalists whose only crime was to report that Labor Together had breached electoral law.
“As of today, it is very difficult to see how defensible the minister’s position is.”
