Ian Byrne, John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Clive Lewis are among two dozen Labour MPs calling for a fully independent investigation into the allegations surrounding the shadowy Labour Together group in an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour Party General Secretary today.

The last week has been dominated by media revelations alleging that Labour Together hired a PR company to snoop on the background of journalists who were investigating legitimate matters of public interest.

 Labour Together paid APCO Worldwide at least £30,000 to “investigate the sourcing, funding and origins” of a story about its undeclared donations before the general election. APCO’s  report included details about a journalist’s Jewish faith, relationships and upbringing. It claimed – without evidence – that the story was based on data hacked from the Electoral Commission, which it linked to Russia.

Today, according to the Sunday Times, the man who authored the report has since been examining an investigations correspondent at the Guardian, who has been reporting on the revelations, as recently as last week, and suggesting – without any evidence – that he too could have been part of a wider pro-Russia campaign.

Last week, the Telegraph reported that Labour Together director Josh Simons “used a law firm to smear a journalist who was looking into pro-Starmer group Labour Together.” It claimed he instructed Mishcon de Reya to warn Telegraph journalists that it had ‘serious doubts about [the] motivation’ of Paul Holden, who was writing a book about the Starmerite think tank, and ‘his credibility should be treated with extreme caution’.”

It further emerged that Simons was also involved in telling security officials that journalist Paul Holden was “living with” the daughter of a former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn. Officials were told by Simons’ team that the former adviser was “suspected of links to Russian intelligence”.

Paul Holden’s book The Fraud lifts the lid on the workings of Labour Together and its role in Keir Starmer’s rise to the Labour leadership. The sources of much of the information collated are Party whistleblowers. As for his personal relationships, they are mentioned in the Acknowledgments at the end of the book – hardly a secret and certainly not a matter for the security services.

Over 100 Labour MPs are thought to have benefited from Labour Together donations to their election campaigns. Many are prominent Starmer supporters, including some Cabinet members.

Last week, the Prime Minister succumbed to backbench pressure and set up a Cabinet Office inquiry into the affair. The problem is that the key Labour Together director Josh Simons at the centre of the allegations is now a minister at the Cabinet Office in charge of the inquiry.

That is why today’s letter from backbench MPs calls for an independent investigation. “Any investigation led or overseen by government departments containing individuals with past or present links to Labour Together risks undermining public trust,” it says.

The letter calls for a full independent investigation, with clear published terms of reference and a commitment that its findings will be made public in full.

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