Revealed: Government accused of ‘conflict of interest’ over journalist smear inquiry
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Starmer said Cabinet Office will investigate Josh Simons and Labour Together - but its ministers have received more than £150,000 from the think tank and its directors

The think tank that made Keir Starmer paid private investigators at APCO to dig up dirt on reporters who had exposed at least £730,000 in undeclared funding for Labour Together: cash that was used to fuel the prime minister’s rise to power.

Our reporting on this scandal has made headlines across the media and has now triggered an inquiry by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team.

So what’s the problem? Surely this means we’ll finally get to the bottom of Labour Together’s black ops campaign? We’re not so confident.

For a start, it’s an ‘informal inquiry’, not a full investigation. And Josh Simons - the former Labour Together chief who commissioned the PR firm - is now a minister… in the Cabinet Office.

But the ties between Labour Together and the department that is supposed to be “establishing the facts” stretch well beyond Simons’ ministerial brief.

Democracy for Sale can today report that Labour Together and its directors have donated more than £150,000 to sitting Cabinet Office ministers.

The donations include £57,400 and £35,500 respectively to key Starmer allies Darren Jones and Nick Thomas-Symonds ahead of the 2024 general election.

Cabinet Office boss Jones is now responsible for propriety and ethics, while Thomas-Symonds’ remit includes inquiries policy.

Another Cabinet Office minister, Anna Turley, received £10,000 from Labour Together and £10,000 from think tank director Fran Perrin in 2024. Simons himself has received £40,000 from Perrin and £5,000 from another Labour Together board member, Mike Craven, since the start of 2024.

Separately, a former Labour Together director now holds a senior role in the same Cabinet Office unit that is charged with running the government’s probe into Simons.

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Labour Together’s ties to the Cabinet Office run deep. The £35,500 donation that Thomas-Symonds received was to second one of the think tank’s staffers Jess Sargeant to his office, while in opposition.

After Labour’s election win, Sargeant joined the Cabinet Office as a deputy director in the Propriety, Ethics and Constitution Group, sparking accusations of ‘cronyism’ given her former role at Labour Together, where she worked under Simons.

Notably, her LinkedIn omits Labour Together, listing her as “director of constitutional change” at an unnamed think tank.