A Labour minister accused of paying a PR firm to smear journalists was facing fresh questions about his role in the scandal last night.
Josh Simons is facing a Cabinet Office investigation over a controversial probe he ordered into a damaging newspaper article while in charge of think-tank Labour Together.
American PR firm APCO Worldwide produced a confidential report into a 2023 Sunday Times story revealing that Labour Together had failed to disclose £730,000 in donations when it was run by Morgan McSweeney, later Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
Mr Simons has previously dismissed claims he commissioned it as ‘nonsense’.
But leaked details of the contract yesterday confirmed APCO was asked to investigate the ‘sourcing, funding and origins’ of the article, as well as planned work by two freelance journalists who provided source material.
In a confirmation letter to Mr Simons, the firm promised to ‘provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media’.
It said it would use ‘human intelligence’ to help compile the report, alongside ‘forensic accounting’ and ‘digital forensics investigation’.
The 58-page report, which cost the think-tank £36,000, is said to have portrayed two reporters as part of a Russian campaign to sabotage Sir Keir’s reputation and included pages of deeply personal and false claims about one of them, Gabriel Pogrund.
Josh Simons (pictured) is facing a Cabinet Office investigation over a controversial probe he ordered into a damaging newspaper article while in charge of think-tank Labour Together
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in September last year. The Labour Together think tank supported Starmer's Labour leadership bid
Mr Simons has claimed he was ‘surprised and shocked’ by APCO’s decision to include information on Mr Pogrund, as it had ‘extended beyond the contract’.
And leaked emails yesterday confirmed that Mr Simons passed the findings of the inquiry to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) suggesting that it investigate whether the think-tank had been the subject of a Russian hacking operation.
The revelations will pile pressure on Mr Simons, who is already facing calls to resign. And privately, some senior Labour figures believe Mr Simons will struggle to survive the scandal’s fallout.
Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesman Lisa Smart said she was ‘appalled’ by the reported ‘smear tactics’.
APCO has said it is undertaking a ‘detailed internal review of the project’.
