A Labour think‑tank that played a role in Keir Starmer’s ascent to No 10 has announced it is making a “clean break” from its past after its former director, Josh Simons, quit his ministerial post following a report that wrongly tied journalists to a “pro‑Kremlin” network.
The board of Labour Together distanced itself from Simons’s 2023 decision to engage a lobbying agency to probe Sunday Times, CuriosityNews and independent reporters who were examining its failure to disclose more than £700,000 in donations.
Simons, who was leading Labour Together at the time and commissioned the £36,000 report, resigned from his Cabinet Office role on Saturday amid the scandal that falsely alleged the journalists were linked to pro‑Kremlin propaganda.
Labour Together’s work continues to be examined, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urging Starmer to sever ties with the think‑tank and return its contributions.
“Simons’s resignation makes it clear Labour Together is effectively finished as an organisation,” she said. “Keir Starmer must tell us straightaway whether he will now end Labour Together’s connections with his government and give back the tainted money they have donated.”
Several Labour MPs expressed disappointment with Starmer’s handling of the affair. Karl Turner wrote on X that it was “spot on” that a broader inquiry into Labour Together’s activities was needed, while Clive Lewis argued Simons should have stepped down or been removed weeks earlier and that the delay “speaks volumes”.
Simons oversaw the group when it hired Tom Harper, an Apco lobbyist and former Sunday Times journalist, to investigate the origins of stories about Labour Together’s failure to declare £730,000 in donations.
The reporting lapses at Labour Together between 2017 and 2020 occurred under Morgan McSweeney, who later became Starmer’s chief of staff, and resulted in fines from the Electoral Commission.
Simons said he was shocked and angry at the breadth of the Apco report, which detailed the backgrounds and private lives of journalists. However, CuriosityNews disclosed that Simons himself had falsely linked the reporters to a “pro‑Kremlin” network in emails to GCHQ.
On Saturday he said his Cabinet Office role had become “a distraction from this government’s important work”. In his resignation letter, Simons maintained he had never intended to “smear [the] newspaper reporters” targeted by Apco.
Simons was examined in a formal inquiry by the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus. Magnus concluded that Simons had not breached the ministerial code but that his continued presence in government posed a “distraction and potential reputational damage”.
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