Labour-linked think tank accused of paying firm to investigate journalists

A think tank with close links to senior figures in the Labour Party has been accused of paying a PR firm to investigate journalists reporting on its funding.

Labour Together is said to have hired APCO Worldwide to investigate reporters from The Sunday Times, The Guardian and other outlets to identify their sources following stories about the think tank’s failure to declare more than £700,000 in donations.

According to the Democracy For Sale newsletter, APCO was paid at least £30,000 to carry out the investigation in 2023, when the think tank was run by Josh Simons, now a Labour MP and Cabinet Office minister.

Prior to Mr Simons, Labour Together was run by Morgan McSweeney, who is now the Prime Minister’s chief of staff and is facing pressure to quit over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Sources close to Mr McSweeney, who left Labour Together in 2020, said he had not made the decision to hire APCO, and any questions were a matter for the think tank.

Labour Together was fined £14,250 in September 2021 over late reporting of the donations after referring itself to the Electoral Commission.

Democracy For Sale reported that Labour Together later hired APCO following a story in The Sunday Times alleging Mr McSweeney had failed to declare £730,000 in donations to the think tank between 2017 and 2020.

In a briefing provided to Labour Together, the firm identified two potential sources of the story – either a leak from the Electoral Commission or the think tank, or “illegally-gathered information collected from the 2023 hack of the Electoral Commission that has been passed on to the author”, the newsletter said.

Briefings from APCO are reported to have identified other journalists as “significant persons of interest”, while discussing points of “leverage” over some reporters.

According to the newsletter, APCO also produced a memo that seemed intended to discredit South African journalist Paul Holden, who collaborated on The Sunday Times story.

In a post on X later on Friday, Mr Simons shared a screenshot of a Guardian article headlined “Labour thinktank close to Morgan McSweeney paid firm to investigate journalists”, and wrote: “This is nonsense.

“APCO were asked to look into a suspected illegal hack, which had nothing to do with UK journalists at Sunday Times, Guardian or any other brilliant UK newspaper.

“APCO’s investigation never fully got to the bottom of this. Those who know me know I think the work of journalists is vital to our democracy.”

Labour Together declined to comment on the allegations.

APCO has been contacted for comment.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) described the reports as “deeply concerning” and warned any actions taken to block journalists from reporting freely in the public interest were a “threat to the role of journalism in a functioning democracy”.

Questions

Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “Reports of the think tank Labour Together hiring a commercial firm to investigate journalists are deeply concerning and raise serious questions about political interference and respect for press freedom in the UK.

“Journalists must be able to pursue stories in the public interest and hold those in power to account without fear of intimidation.

“The public has a right to be informed about influential political organisations, particularly those linked to the government.

“Any actions taken to block journalists from investigating, scrutinising financial information or reporting freely in the public interest are unacceptable and a threat to the role of journalism in a functioning democracy.”