Labour Minister Unintentionally Discloses Sleaze Probe

A government minister was left embarrassed after accidentally revealing he faces a sleaze probe.

Josh Simons was forced to swiftly delete a message he posted in a Labour MPs’ WhatsApp group.

He sent the message at 1.45pm on Monday, more than an hour before it was announced in parliament by Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister.

Keir Starmer has asked Sir Laurie Magnus, the government’s ethics watchdog, to investigate claims that the Labour Together think-tank ordered a smear campaign against journalists when it was run by Simons.

That follows a separate inquiry by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team (PET).

Simons’ message, which has been seen by HuffPost UK, said: “Jonny rang. PM will ask Laurie to look into it. Aim is to move fast. But PET did find I had not broken the code.”

“Jonny” is thought to refer to government chief whip Jonathan Reynolds.

A senior government source said the PET does not rule on whether someone has broken the ministerial code.

Simons was the director of Labour Together in 2023 when it commissioned an investigation by PR consultancy Apco Worldwide into the “backgrounds and motivations” of reporters who had written stories about it.

That investigation examined “sourcing, funding and origins” of a November 2023 Sunday Times report into Labour Together’s funding, after it failed to declare £730,000 of donations between 2017 and 2020.

Its findings – which included false allegations about Sunday Times’ journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke – were then shared informally with Labour figures.

Simons has denied any wrongdoing.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: “It is abundantly clear that most MPs think Josh Simons’ position as a Cabinet Office minister is untenable, and only an open independent investigation into all of Labour Together’s shady practices will suffice.”