Cabinet Office looking into Starmer-linked thinktank after it investigated journalists
The Cabinet Office is examining the commissioning of a report that made false claims about journalists who were investigating Labour Together, the thinktank closely linked to Keir Starmer, a cabinet minister has said.Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, indicated it would not be a formal inquiry, as demanded by the Conservatives and some Labour MPs, noting that the trade association for the PR industry was carrying out such an investigation.Downing Street declined to comment on what form the process would take.It is understood that it is likely to be led by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team.The standards committee of the Public Relations and Communications Association is examining a report compiled by the PR consultancy Apco Worldwide into the “sourcing, funding and origins” of a November 2023 Sunday Times report about Labour Together.
The research was paid for and subsequently reviewed by Josh Simons, according to sources and documents seen by the Guardian.He was director of Labour Together and is now a Labour MP and Cabinet Office minister.Kendall told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s absolutely right that the relevant regulatory body that covers public affairs is already investigating this.The Cabinet Office will be establishing the facts.”Asked if this was a formal investigation, Kendall hinted this was not the case, saying: “Establishing the facts is the first thing that you’ve got to do on anything, isn’t it? If you want to look into something properly, you have to be able to establish the facts.
”She added: “The freedom of the press, difficult though it is, is an essential part of the proper functioning of a parliamentary democracy, and that’s extremely important.”Speaking at an event in London on Monday morning, Starmer said he had been in the dark about Labour Together’s actions.“I didn’t know anything about this investigation, and it absolutely needs to be looked into, so the Cabinet Office will be establishing the facts,” he said.Starmer’s official spokesperson said he could not give any more details about the fact-finding process by the Cabinet Office.“It’s about establishing what the facts are.
I’m not going to get into the internal processes,” the spokesperson said.He said Starmer had full confidence in Simons.The Conservatives have written to Labour’s chair, Anna Turley, calling for an immediate investigation into Simons’ role and that of other directors of Labour Together, including serving cabinet ministers.Labour Together, formerly headed by Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s recently departed chief of staff, is the thinktank viewed as central to the Starmer project and to revamping the party after the Jeremy Corbyn period.The Sunday Times reported that the contents of Apco’s investigation were shared informally with Labour figures in 2024, including present cabinet ministers and special advisers.
The report contained allegations about Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke, journalists at the paper, which then spread around Westminster.The paper reported that Tom Harper, Apco’s senior director and a former Sunday Times employee, wrote that he had examined the “sourcing, funding and origins of the Sunday Times story” using documents and “discreet human source inquiries”.Harper was said to have made “baseless claims” that the emails underpinning the published story were likely to have come from a suspected Kremlin hack of the Electoral Commission.“The likeliest culprit is the Russian state, or proxies of the Russian state,” he reportedly wrote.Apco’s report was also said to have referred to Pogrund’s Jewish background and made baseless allegations about his faith, upbringing and personal and professional relationships.
Kendall, when asked if Simons’ position in government remained tenable, said: “He is rightly welcoming the investigation that is taking place into this by the public affairs regulatory body.That is right.I believe that these issues are essential to protecting the freedom of our democracy, the freedom of our press.And I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about this in the weeks to come.”Simons has said in a statement: “I was surprised and shocked to read the report extended beyond the contract by including unnecessary information on Gabriel Pogrund.
”Simons said he had asked for the information to be removed before passing the report to the intelligence agency GCHQ.No other British journalists were investigated in any document he or Labour Together ever received, he added.
UK consumer sentiment takes a tumble; bad weather threaten fruit supplies but boosts Morocco’s wheat crop – as it happened
UK consumer sentiment continued to sink this month, as households grow more worried about debt levels.A poll of consumer confidence from data firm S&P Global has found that morale continued to drop in February, although not as quickly as in January.The report shows:Consumers signal stronger rise in debt alongside a quicker deterioration in loan availabilityAppetite for major spending recedes to weakest in ten monthsSentiment regarding labour market conditions at lowest since last JuneThis left the S&P Global UK Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) at 44.8 in February, up from 44.6 in January, but still below the 50-point mark that shows no change compared with the prior month
KPMG partner fined for using artificial intelligence to cheat in AI training test
A partner at the consultancy KPMG has been fined for using artificial intelligence to cheat during an internal training course on AI.The unnamed partner was fined A$10,000 (£5,200) for using the technology to cheat, one of a number of staff reportedly using the tactic.More than two dozen KPMG Australia staff have been caught using AI tools to cheat on internal exams since July, the company said, increasing concerns over AI-fuelled cheating in accountancy firms.The consultancy used its own AI detection tools to discover the cheating, according to the Australian Finance Review, which first reported on it.The big four accountancy firms have grappled with cheating scandals in recent years
Starmer to extend online safety rules to AI chatbots after Grok scandal
Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer on Monday.Emboldened by Elon Musk’s X stopping its Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people in the UK after public outrage last month, ministers are planning a “crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI”.With more and more children using chatbots for everything from help with their homework to mental health support, the government said it would “move fast to shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act or face the consequences of breaking the law”.Starmer is also planning to accelerate new restrictions on social media use by children if they are agreed by MPs after a public consultation into a possible under-16 ban. It means that any changes to children’s use of social media, which may include other measures such as restricting infinite scrolling, could happen as soon as this summer
California’s billionaires pour cash into elections as big tech seeks new allies
Tech billionaires are leveraging tens of millions of dollars to influence California politics in a marked uptick from their previous participation in affairs at the state capitol. Behemoths such as Google and Meta are getting involved in campaigns for November’s elections, as are venture capitalists, cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and Palantir’s co-founders. The industry’s goals run the gamut – from fighting a billionaire tax to supporting a techie gubernatorial candidate to firing up new, influential super political action committees (Pacs).The phenomenon squarely fits the moment for the state’s politics – with 2026 being the year that Politico has dubbed “the big tech flex”.Gavin Newsom, California’s tech-friendly governor who has been quick to veto legislation that cramps the sector’s unfettered growth, is reaching his term limit
Sri Lanka beat Australia by eight wickets: T20 World Cup cricket – as it happened
What a pleasure it was to cover that innings from Pathum Nissanka in real time.Congratulations Sri Lanka. Comizzerz to Australia.That’s us done for today but we’ll be back to OBO plenty more games from this exciting T20I World Cup.Thanks for tuning in, goodbye
Heraskevych ban reflects badly on the International Olympic Committee | Letters
Lizzy Yarnold says the ban on the Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych centres on this rule in the Olympic charter: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas” (Olympic chiefs have got it badly wrong over Heraskevych ban and owe him an apology, 13 February).However, I’m not sure how the International Olympic Committee can say Heraskevych is presenting “political propaganda” when he simply has the images of deceased athletes on his helmet – there was no statement nor overt symbolism that is anti-Russia, and no mention of the war or nationalism etc.If those athletes had all died in a plane crash on holiday in the Caribbean, would they disqualify him? If his mother had died in the war and he had her picture on his helmet, would they disqualify him? If he was Christian and had a neck tattoo of a cross, would they disqualify him? This was a human tribute, not political propaganda. The IOC botched the interpretation of the rules here. I agree that they owe him an official apology
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