"A thinktank previously run by a Labour minister and the prime minister's chief of staff is alleged to have paid a PR firm to investigate journalists who were looking into its funding. Labour Together, once run by Morgan McSweeney and then by Josh Simons, now a Cabinet Office minister, hired APCO Worldwide to investigate journalists from the Guardian, the Sunday Times and other outlets and to identify their sources, according to claims in the Substack publication Democracy for Sale."
"Downing Street has rejected calls for his removal, but Labour backbenchers say his role in Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador makes his position as the prime minister's most senior aide untenable. On Thursday night, the Labour MP Kim Johnson said of the allegations that they suggested McSweeney's operation is rotten to the core, adding: If this is their idea of leadership, No 10 needs gutting from top to bottom."
Labour Together allegedly hired APCO Worldwide in 2023 to investigate journalists from the Guardian, the Sunday Times and other outlets and to identify their sources. The thinktank was run by Morgan McSweeney and later by Josh Simons, who became a Cabinet Office minister. McSweeney left Labour Together in 2020 to join Keir Starmer's team and remained close to the organisation. Sources close to McSweeney said he did not decide to hire APCO and that the decision was a matter for Labour Together. Simons, McSweeney, Labour Together, the Labour Party and APCO declined to comment on the record. The allegations coincide with pressure on McSweeney over Mandelson disclosures and questions about his role in Downing Street.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]