Labour activists paid a PR firm to ‘spy’ on Sunday Times journalists who were investigating and reporting on secret, undeclared donations made to the group.
Labour Together, a think tank which helped Keir Starmer‘s election as party leader, paid £36,000 to investigate reporters at a time when it was run by Josh Simons, now a Labour MP and Cabinet Office minister.
It hired US public relations company, Apco to examine the personal, political and religious ‘backgrounds and motivations’ of the reporters behind the story with a view to discrediting their work, The Sunday Times reported.
Gabriel Pogrund, the Sunday Times’s Whitehall editor and Harry Yorke, the newspaper’s deputy political editor, were named as ‘persons of significant interest’ in the 58-page report.
In it, there were nearly 10 pages of deeply personal and false claims about Mr Pogrund – linking him to Russian sabotage campaigns, commenting on his status as a Jew and making claims on his personal relationships, The Sunday Times said.
In November 2023, Mr Pogrund and Mr Yorke revealed that Labour Together had failed to declare £730,000 of donations between 2017-2020.
The article questioned whether this had been a deliberate cover-up by Morgan McSweeney, who was its chief executive until 2020.
McSweeney resigned last week as Starmer’s chief of staff as it was revealed that he had pushed for the appointment of the scandal-mired Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
Apco’s report was shared with key Labour politicians in 2024 – including present cabinet ministers and special advisers. These reportedly false accusations seemed to be believed and repeated by key figures and formed the basis of a whispering campaign against Mr Pogrund, Mr Yorke and The Sunday Times, the paper said.
Sunday Times Whitehall editor Gabriel Pogrund (pictured) was the subject of 10 pages of intensely personal and false claims in the report, The Sunday Times said
Harry Yorke, Sunday Times deputy political editor, was listed as a person ‘of significant interest’ alongside Mr Pogrund in the report
Mr Pogrund and Mr Yorke’s article revealed the Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s former chief of staff, had not declared £730,000 of donations to the activist group Labour Together which he was then head of
Mr Simons was the man to order Apco’s investigation, days after the article appeared. By this point, he had succeeded McSweeney as head of Labour Together, but his predecessor was still aware of the decision to begin the probe, The Sunday Times said.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has now called for the ‘creepy Labour Party spy minister’ to be sacked.
The full report, seen by the paper, is named ‘Operation Cannon’ and is marked ‘private and confidential’, dated January 2024. Labour Together has admitted to hiring the firm, but never confirmed any other details. Now Simons has said Apco strayed beyond their brief.
It was written up by Tom Harper, Apco’s senior director and a former Sunday Times employee.
In the report, Harper reportedly sought to portray Mr Pogrund and Mr Yorke as part of a Russian campaign to sabotage Starmer’s reputation.
He reportedly alleged without evidence that emails that underpinned the story were likely from a suspected Kremlin hack of the Electoral Commission, The Sunday Times said.
This appeared to be without considering other explanations or getting basic IT or cybersecurity advice. Apco is not a cybersecurity company.
Mr Pogrund’s faith as a Jew, upbringing and personal and professional relationships were also analysed. The report quoted an alleged Sunday Times source that his Jewishness was ‘odd’ considering what they falsely described as his political and ideological position, the Sunday Times said.
Labour Together helped Keir Starmer get elected as Labour leader. He has never publicly acknowledged the links between him and the activist group or its donors
Josh Simons ordered the Apco investigation days after the Sunday Times article following his succession of McSweeney as head of Labour Together
Tom Harper, Apco’s senior director and a former Sunday Times employee, wrote up the report
Harper reportedly wrote that his reporting on the Royal Family ‘could be seen as destabilising to the UK and also in the interests of Russia’s strategic foreign policy objectives’. He also falsely claimed that previous stories had been sourced from pro-Russian actors, The Sunday Times said.
Meanwhile, Mr Pogrund was an remains sanctioned by Russia and is on a no-travel list to the country following the invasion of Ukraine.
The report also investigated South African journalist Paul Holden who had supplied material for the article and American reporter and writer Matt Taibbi who had written with him.
Harper wrote: ‘We have examined the sourcing, funding and origins of the Sunday Times story – plus the forthcoming works by Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the attacks on Labour Together.’
A shorter version of the report, stripped of the personal section on Mr Pogrund, was sent to the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, which declined to launch a full investigation.
But this GCHQ referral was used to tarnish the article’s legitimacy and cabinet ministers and special advisers quietly alleged that it was linked to the Russian state, the Sunday Times said.
Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk, told The Sunday Times: ‘The freedom of the press and the ability of journalists to work free from harassment and intimidation is a vital foundation of our free society.
‘That anybody thought they could do this is absolutely appalling and raises further questions about the role played by Labour Together in bringing Keir Starmer to the leadership of his party.’
Conservative MP for West Suffolk Nick Timothy spoke out for press freedom in the wake of the scandal
McSweeney never publicly explained his failure to declare the donations, with the group dismissing the matter as an ‘admin error’ – a phrase McSweeney was advised to use by lawyers if he had no better explanation, internal emails published by the Conservatives revealed.
Mr Simons, now the Labour MP for Makerfield, said Apco had overstepped its brief. He said: ‘I was surprised and shocked to read the report extended beyond the contract by including unnecessary information on Gabriel Pogrund.
‘I asked for this information to be removed before passing the report to GCHQ. No other British journalists were investigated in any document I or Labour Together ever received.’
He said he welcomed the investigation launched last week by the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).
Keir Starmer has expressed the importance of press freedom, but never acknowledged his relationship with Labour Together or its donors.
One patron is hedge fund manager Martin Taylor who made his money at NevskyCapital, £1.5 billion Cayman Islands fund linked to investments in Russian companies such as Gazprom, and Sir Trevor Chinn, a businessman.
The former Labour MP Jon Cruddas spoke on the Apco investigation. He said: ‘I have heard of black briefings, but never heard of anything like this. This is dark s***.’
Commenting, SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn MP said: ‘Keir Starmer must sack the Labour Party minister at the centre of this creepy spy scandal.
‘Yet again, Starmer has serious questions to answer about his judgement and his own role in this scandal.
‘Why did he appoint Josh Simons and why has he failed to take any action despite these allegations being in the public domain?
‘What Labour Together support did he benefit from during the Labour Party leadership election – and during the general election?’
