Labour MPs call for investigation into think tank over surveillance allegations

Labour MPs believe they may have been “monitored” by a Labour think tank linked to Morgan McSweeney.

Ian Byrne, the Left-wing MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he and other backbenchers had submitted “subject access requests (SARs)” to Labour Together.

This will force the organisation to reveal whether it had discussed him in any of its correspondence.

It follows the revelation earlier this year that Labour Together, which was set up by Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, commissioned a report which looked into journalists’ backgrounds.

Josh Simons, who was head of the think tank before he became an MP, was forced to resign as a Cabinet Office minister amid the fallout.

He said at the weekend that he was “naive” and “so sorry” for his part in the scandal.

‘A fundamental breach of trust and democracy’

Left-wing MPs accuse Mr McSweeney of using the think tank’s control of Labour to force out people from their wing of the party.

Mr Byrne wrote on X: “I’m one of many worried Labour MPs who’ve now submitted Subject Access Requests to both Labour Together and the US firm it hired.

“Because the evidence is mounting, this went beyond journalists and it points to something deeply troubling for a democratic society.

“If MPs and journalists were being monitored, which the evidence points to, that’s not just wrong: it’s a fundamental breach of trust and democracy.”

He added: “So let’s be clear: ‘naive’ doesn’t come close to describing the actions of Labour Together.

“MPs have written to the PM and the General Secretary of the Labour Party for a full and independent investigation into Labour Together and everyone connected to it. No more dodging. No more silence.”

Labour Together paid APCO Worldwide at least £30,000 to “investigate the sourcing, funding and origins” of a Sunday Times story about undeclared donations at the think tank before the 2024 election.

Mr Simons previously said he “never sought to smear” the journalists investigated, but at the weekend he told the BBC’s Newscast that “there’s a lot I’ve learned from it”.

He said that when the Sunday Times reported Labour Together had not declared its donations properly, he was “concerned that information that had been obtained was confidential information that might have come from a hack of the Electoral Commission”.

He says he was also concerned “that information might be used to retell the story of the antisemitism crisis that happened under [Labour] and to downplay it”.

“I was naive and there’s a lot I’ve learned from it and there are things I would have done differently,” he said.

APCO Worldwide’s report included journalist Gabriel Pogrund’s previous reporting, including on the Royal family, which “could be seen as destabilising to the UK and also in the interests of Russia’s strategic foreign policy objectives”.

Ed Owen, executive director of political strategy at Labour Together, said: “There is absolutely no truth in the suggestion that Labour Together has monitored Mr Byrne or any other MP.

“If he has any evidence to the contrary, we would urge him to provide it to us.

“It is taking a bit longer than expected for us to respond to his and other SARs largely because of the number of requests we have received.”

A spokesman for APCO Worldwide said previously: “We are deeply committed to upholding our values and standards as an organisation and treat any suggestion that we have failed to do so very seriously.

“We are in the process of undertaking a detailed internal review of the project. We are also in discussion with the PRCA, of which we are longstanding members, and will fully support them in their own review of this matter.”