We are currently examining the Cabinet Office’s involvement in commissioning a report that falsely claimed journalists were investigating Labour Together, a think tank closely tied to Keir Starmer, according to a government minister.
Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, said the issue is unlikely to become a formal inquiry, a step some Conservative MPs and Labour MPs had urged. She noted that a professional body representing the PR industry is already conducting an investigation into the matter.
The Public Relations and Communications Association’s standards committee is reviewing a report produced by Apco Worldwide. The report, dated November 2023, looked at the sourcing, funding, and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together.
Documents seen by The Guardian indicate that the research was funded and subsequently reviewed by Josh Simons, who was Labour Together’s director and is now a Labour MP and Cabinet Office minister.
Kendal told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it is appropriate that the relevant regulatory body for public affairs is investigating this issue, and that the Cabinet Office will establish the facts. She clarified that this is not framed as a formal investigation at this stage, emphasizing that factual clarity is the first essential step in any proper inquiry. She also defended press freedom as a vital component of a functioning parliamentary democracy.
The Conservative Party has written to Labour’s chair, Anna Turley, demanding an immediate probe into Simons’s role and that of other Labour Together directors, including serving cabinet ministers.
Labour Together—formerly led by Morgan McSweeney, who recently left his post as Labour’s chief of staff—is seen as central to Starmer’s project to reshape the party after the Jeremy Corbyn era.
The Sunday Times reported that Apco’s investigation contents were informally shared with Labour figures in 2024, including current cabinet ministers and special advisers. The report allegedly contained allegations against Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke of the Sunday Times, which then circulated through Westminster.
According to the report, Tom Harper, Apco’s senior director and a former Sunday Times employee, claimed to have assessed the story’s sourcing, funding, and origins using documents and discreet inquiries with informal sources.
Harper purportedly argued that the emails underpinning the published story were likely obtained from a suspected Kremlin hack of the Electoral Commission, suggesting the Kremlin or its proxies as the most probable culprits. The report was also said to reference Pogrund’s Jewish background and to make alleged, unfounded remarks about his faith, upbringing, and personal and professional connections.
Asked about Simons’s suitability to remain in his government role, Kendall replied that he is appropriately engaging with the ongoing public-affairs inquiry and that safeguarding democracy and press freedom is essential. She indicated more developments would emerge in the coming weeks.
Simons released a statement saying he was surprised and shocked to find the report extended beyond its contract by including extraneous information about Gabriel Pogrund. He claimed he had asked for those details to be removed before the report was submitted to the intelligence agency GCHQ. He also asserted that no other British journalists were investigated in any documents he or Labour Together ever received.
