The SNP has challenged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to launch an immediate investigation into serious allegations that a Labour government minister and his chief of staff may have been involved in a plot to spy on journalists.
The call follows reports that Labour Together, a think tank that backed Starmer during the 2020 Labour leadership contest, paid a PR firm £30,000 to investigate journalists who were reporting on its undeclared funding.
The allegations were reported by the Financial Times and the investigative Substack Democracy for Sale.
According to those reports, Labour government minister Josh Simons was head of Labour Together at the time the research was commissioned.
The reporting also states that Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, a former head of Labour Together, was aware of the activity and was central to the events described.
Labour Together is alleged to have commissioned the work from APCO Worldwide following media coverage of McSweeney’s time leading the organisation between 2017 and 2020.
That period included a £14,250 fine issued by the Electoral Commission in 2021 for more than 20 breaches of electoral law linked to failures to declare over £700,000 in donations.
The reports suggest the undeclared funds were used to support efforts to install Keir Starmer as Labour leader, raising questions over whether the donations were deliberately hidden.
It is claimed that a memo produced by APCO for Labour Together listed journalists described as “significant persons of interest,” including Sunday Times reporters Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke and investigative journalist Paul Holden.
The memo reportedly stated:
“It is important to identify the source of the information and to ascertain what additional information could be published”.
McSweeney has already faced criticism from Labour MPs for advising Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the United States despite Mandelson’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein being a matter of public record.
Labour Together was also closely linked to Scottish Labour’s 2024 general election campaign, with almost half of current Scottish Labour MPs and their constituency organisations receiving donations totalling £100,000.
Those reported to have received funding include former Scottish Secretary Ian Murray, Kirsty McNeill, Michael Shanks and Peter Mandelson ally Imogen Walker.
Josh Simons has previously courted controversy in Scotland after suggesting international smuggling gangs should be sent to a Scottish island.
Responding to the reports, Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman wrote on social media:
“If this is true, then it is beyond sinister and shows the levels of toxicity and poisonous factionalism that some in the party have created.
“Questions must be asked and answers must be given.”
Commenting on the allegations, SNP Westminster deputy leader Pete Wishart said:
“Keir Starmer must launch an immediate investigation into claims that his chief of staff, and a Labour government minister, were involved in a plot to spy on journalists.
“These claims are incredibly serious and add to the pressure facing Keir Starmer over his appalling judgement, particularly given they involve Morgan McSweeney who advised the Prime Minister to appoint Peter Mandelson.
“Was the Prime Minister aware of Labour Together’s activity when he appointed Morgan McSweeney and Josh Simons to their Labour government roles? And will he commit to taking action now or is this yet another example of Keir Starmer’s poor judgement?
“There are also serious questions for Peter Mandelson ally Anas Sarwar over the huge sums of money that Scottish Labour Party candidates received from Labour Together at the 2024 general election.
“Sarwar showed appalling judgement in embracing his old friend Mandelson despite his known links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and now there are questions over his judgement on these murky Labour Together donations too.”
