Lobbyist Hired by Thinktank Accused of Investigating Guardian Reporter
The Guardian offices at King's Place in London have become a focal point in a growing controversy involving a lobbyist hired by an influential thinktank. Tom Harper, a senior director at the US public affairs firm Apco, has been accused of recently investigating Henry Dyer, an investigations correspondent at the Guardian. This follows Harper's authorship of a 58-page report for Labour Together, a thinktank that played a key role in Keir Starmer's Labour leadership victory.
Background of the Apco Report
Labour Together commissioned Apco to produce a report examining the journalists behind a 2023 Sunday Times story that revealed undisclosed donations to the thinktank. The report, which cost £36,000, claimed without evidence that the story was based on data hacked from the Electoral Commission and linked to Russia. It also delved into the religious and ideological positions of journalists and sources involved, including ten pages focused on Sunday Times journalist Gabriel Pogrund, alleging pro-Russia connections without substantiation.
Political Fallout and Calls for Action
The political repercussions are intensifying, with calls across the spectrum for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to sack Josh Simons, now a Cabinet Office minister. Simons was director of Labour Together when it paid Apco for the investigation. He is already under a Whitehall ethics inquiry after emails revealed he falsely linked journalists to Russian intelligence in communications with GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre. A spokesperson for Simons has denied these claims, stating the thinktank commissioned Apco to investigate information from Paul Holden, a freelance journalist who provided documents for the original Sunday Times report.
Wider Implications and Investigations
Apco is currently being investigated by the Public Relations and Communications Association's standards committee over its research into journalists. The thinktank's decision to commission the report was first exposed by the Democracy for Sale publication earlier this month. Labour Together, originally headed by Morgan McSweeney, who recently resigned as Starmer's chief of staff, has been instrumental in shaping party strategy, particularly in efforts to move beyond Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.
Paul Holden has since shown source materials to the Guardian, indicating the Sunday Times story was based on files leaked from the Labour party by whistleblowers, not hacked data. The Electoral Commission had previously fined Labour Together over £14,000 for failing to declare £730,000 in donations. As this scandal unfolds, it raises serious questions about the ethics of targeting journalists and the use of unsubstantiated claims in political discourse.
