Starmer facing calls for inquiry into Labour thinktank’s investigation into journalists
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to order an inquiry into a Labor think tank’s investigation into journalists as he tries to recover from the troubles facing his premiership.
Foreign Secretary Stephen Doughty said it would be “only right” to launch an investigation into Labor Together, which helped Sir Keir win the Labor leadership.
The calls are piling pressure on government minister Josh Simons, who is preparing the 2023 report on journalists investigating the group’s finances.
Sunday Times The contents of an investigation carried out by public relations consultancy Apco were shared informally with Labor figures in 2024, including current cabinet ministers and special advisers, it has reported.
The newspaper said it contained pages of “highly personal and false allegations” about one of the journalists, Gabriel Pogrund. It also discussed his Jewish background and included false claims about personal and professional relationships. It was also reported that “baseless allegations” were made that emails supporting the journalists’ story may have come from a hack of the Electoral Commission suspected to have been carried out by the Kremlin.
Mr Simons was an ally of Morgan McSweeney, who previously ran Labor Together and resigned from No 10 last week when the Mandelson scandal rocked Downing Street. Mr Simons told the newspaper he had asked for the information to be removed before passing the report on to GCHQ, the intelligence agency. He also said no other British journalists had been investigated under any documents he or Labor Together had obtained.
Former Labor chancellor John McDonnell called for an independent investigation into the incident.
He said it was clear to him that “as secretary of the NUJ parliamentary group, if true this is unacceptable”.
Another Labor MP, Karl Turner, personally called on the prime minister to look into the issue and said he should meet Mr McDonnell to “discuss” the issue.
Former Conservative chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who has since defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, led to demands for Sir Keir to reveal what he knew about the inquiry.
“This is a huge story. If this were any other party, the calls for an investigation would be deafening,” he said.
Mr Doughty told Times Radio: “If there is an investigation, it will return to its normal course and we will understand what happened. I want to see a country where journalists can do their jobs without fear or favor.”
