Labour Together making clean break' after former director resigns as minister

"The board of Labour Together distanced itself from Simons' decision in 2023 to hire a lobbying firm to investigate Sunday Times, Guardian and independent reporters who were looking into its failure to declare more than 700,000 in donations. Simons, who led Labour Together at the time and commissioned the 36,000 report, stepped down as a Cabinet Office minister on Saturday over the scandal that falsely claimed the journalists were linked to pro-Kremlin propaganda."

"Keir Starmer must tell us immediately if he will now end Labour Together's links with his government and return the tainted money they've donated. A number of Labour MPs have said they were disappointed with Starmer's response to the scandal. Karl Turner wrote on X that it was spot on that there should be a wider investigation into the activities of Labour Together."

"The reporting failures at Labour Together between 2017 and 2020 happened under Morgan McSweeney, who later became Starmer's chief of staff, and led to fines from the Electoral Commission. Simons was in charge of the organisation when it commissioned Tom Harper, a lobbyist from Apco and a former Sunday Times journalist, to investigate the source of stories about Labour Together's failure to declare 730,000 in donations."

Labour Together, the thinktank instrumental in Keir Starmer's election victory, faces significant scrutiny following a scandal involving its former director Josh Simons. In 2023, Simons commissioned a £36,000 report from lobbying firm Apco to investigate journalists from the Sunday Times, Guardian, and independent outlets who were reporting on Labour Together's failure to declare over £700,000 in donations. The report falsely linked these journalists to pro-Kremlin propaganda networks. Simons resigned as Cabinet Office minister on Saturday over the controversy. The thinktank's board has distanced itself from his actions. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for Starmer to sever ties with Labour Together and return its donations. Several Labour MPs expressed disappointment with Starmer's response, with some arguing Simons should have resigned weeks earlier. The undeclared donations scandal originated from reporting failures between 2017 and 2020 under Morgan McSweeney, now Starmer's chief of staff, resulting in Electoral Commission fines.

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