Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure from the Conservatives and his own MPs to launch an inquiry into a report commissioned by a Cabinet Office minister that made “baseless claims” about journalists investigating a thinktank linked to the prime minister. The report, commissioned in 2023 by Josh Simons, then director of Labour Together, targeted reporters probing the organisation that helped propel Starmer to power.
The Conservatives have written to Labour’s chair, Anna Turley, demanding an investigation into Simons’ role and that of other Labour Together directors, including serving cabinet ministers. Documents seen by the Guardian reveal that Simons, now a Cabinet Office minister, paid for and reviewed research by PR firm Apco Worldwide, which agreed to “investigate the sourcing, funding and origins” of a November 2023 Sunday Times report about the thinktank.
Apco’s investigation, led by former Sunday Times employee Tom Harper, allegedly made “baseless claims” that emails underpinning the story came from a suspected Kremlin hack of the Electoral Commission. The report also reportedly referred to journalist Gabriel Pogrund’s Jewish background and made unfounded allegations about his faith and relationships. The findings were informally shared with Labour figures, including cabinet ministers and special advisers.
Simons has said he was “surprised and shocked” by the report’s inclusion of unnecessary information on Pogrund and asked for it to be removed before passing the document to GCHQ. He welcomed an investigation by the Public Relations and Communications Association’s standards committee. However, Conservative chair Kevin Hollinrake accused Labour Together of showing “contempt for a free press”.
Labour backbencher John McDonnell has written three times to the party’s general secretary calling for an independent inquiry, copying in Starmer. Another Labour MP, Karl Turner, urged the prime minister to meet McDonnell to discuss the affair. Alison Phillips, former Daily Mirror editor and now Labour Together chief executive, said she was “horrified” by the investigators’ actions but stressed the organisation was “under new leadership”.
