Politics
Government Ethics Watchdog Launches Probe Into Minister
A government sleaze watchdog has launched a probe into a minister whose former think-tank allegedly ordered a smear campaign against journalists.
Josh Simons was the director of Labour Together in 2023 when it commissioned an investigation into the “backgrounds and motivations” of reporters who had written stories about it.
Simons was elected Labour MP for Makerfield the following year and is now a minister in the Cabinet Office. He has denied any wrongdoing.
HuffPost UK has learned that Keir Starmer has asked Laurie Magnus, the government’s ethics adviser, to investigate the accusations against Simons.
Downing Street has been approached for comment.
Labour Together is a pro-Starmer think-tank which was previously run by Morgan McSweeney, who quit as the PM’s chief of staff two weeks ago over the Peter Mandelson scandal.
Simons took over as boss of Labour Together in 2022, and was in charge when it commissioned PR consultancy Apco Worldwide to write a report which made false claims about two Sunday Times journalists investigating the think-tank.
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 allegations about Sunday Times’ journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke – were then shared informally with Labour figures.
Starmer confirmed last week that the Cabinet Office would carry out its own investigation into the controversy.
The PM’s decision to ask his ethics adviser to launch a separate investigate will pile further pressure on Simons.