Starmer facing calls for inquiry into Labour thinktank’s investigation of journalists
Keir Starmer is facing calls by MPs for an inquiry into the commissioning of a report that made “baseless claims” about journalists who were investigating a thinktank linked to the prime minister.The calls add to pressure on the Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons, who commissioned a report in 2023 on journalists investigating Labour Together, the thinktank that would help propel Starmer to power.The research was paid for and subsequently reviewed by Simons when he was director of Labour Together, according to sources and documents seen by the Guardian.In an agreement addressed to Simons, drawn up by Apco Worldwide, the PR consultancy agreed to “investigate the sourcing, funding and origins” of a November 2023 Sunday Times report about the thinktank, in addition to other journalistic investigations into the group.The Sunday Times reported that the contents of Apco’s investigation were informally shared 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 enquiries”,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.
Simons was close to the prime minister’s recently departed chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who previously ran Labour Together and whose own role in the operation to gather material on journalists is under scrutiny.An investigation into Apco’s research has been launched by the Public Relations and Communications Association’s standards committee, and this has been welcomed by Simons.He 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, Simons said.
John McDonnell, the veteran Labour backbencher and former chancellor, said on Saturday he had written three times in recent weeks to the general secretary of the Labour party to call for an independent inquiry into the affair,“I copied Keir Starmer into each request,” McDonnell said,“Clear to me as secretary of the NUJ’s parliamentary group if true this is unacceptable,”Another Labour MP, Karl Turner, said the prime minister needed to look into the affair himself and should meet McDonnell to discuss it,The contract showed that Simons asked for information specifically on the sources for a book by Paul Holden about McSweeney’s role in Starmer’s rise, as well as related articles by the US journalist Matt Taibbi.
Even amid rising economic uncertainty, now is not the time to hug your job
After all the employee protests over the past few years – the “great resignations”, the “quiet quittings”, the “bare-minimum Mondays” and “coffee badgings” – we have finally arrived at “job hugging”.Amid all the economic uncertainty and the rising costs of everything, people aren’t feeling as confident as they once were. Instead of slacking off while you hunt for something better, everyone’s scared about losing their jobs. With all the news about big corporate layoffs and the ominous and still-undefined threat of AI, it’s understandable that people are hugging their jobs.A recent report from job search site Monster
Treasury considering changes to Australia’s contentious tobacco excise, as calls grow for a freeze
Experts say a freeze on the federal government’s contentious tobacco excise should be considered, after the Treasury revealed it was modelling the impacts of cigarette prices on demand amid a booming black market.Lachlan Vass, a research manager at the e61 Institute, said the Treasury’s examination of “price elasticity” and demand for tobacco would be a necessary step to costing potential reforms to the excise.Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, and Mark Butler, the health minister, have previously rebuffed any suggestion that reducing the sky-high cost of cigarettes was the solution to curbing the black market trade, which has ballooned over the past five years and smashed a $17.8bn hole in the budget since 2020-21.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailBut when asked at Senate estimates last week why a cut to the excise couldn’t be considered as part of a wider strategy to curb the illegal tobacco trade, Katy Gallagher, the finance minister, left the door open to a change in excise policy
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’s been quick to veto legislation that cramps the sector’s unfettered growth, is reaching his term limit
No swiping involved: the AI dating apps promising to find your soulmate
Dating apps exploit you, dating profiles lie to you, and sex is basically something old people used to do. You might as well consider it: can AI help you find love?For a handful of tech entrepreneurs and a few brave Londoners, the answer is “maybe”.No, this is not a story about humans falling in love with sexy computer voices – and strictly speaking, AI dating of some variety has been around for a while. Most big platforms have integrated machine learning and some AI features into their offerings over the past few years.But dreams of a robot-powered future – or perhaps just general dating malaise and a mounting loneliness crisis – have fuelled a new crop of startups that aim to use the possibilities of the technology differently
India v Pakistan: T20 Cricket World Cup – live
7th over: Pakistan 47-4 (U Khan 29, S Khan 2) Usman Khan isn’t done yet, he glances for four past the keeper and then uses his feet to get out to an Axar Patel length ball and drive down the ground for a second boundary in the over. Oh ye of little faith! (It is still done though)6th over: Pakistan 38-4 (U Khan 21, S Khan 1) Varun Chakravarthy dance through an over of googlies and flippers that costs just four runs. Barring something mid boggling, this game is done.5th over: Pakistan 34-4 (U Khan 18, S Khan 0) Shadab Khan joins Usman Khan in the middle. He’s nearly pinned first ball by Axar too but this one was sneaking down leg
Winter Olympics 2026: GB glory in mixed team snowboard cross final, Brignone wins women’s giant slalom – live
Good start from Bankes and she knows she can reel Casta but there is a threat in third from Moioli … A little bobble from Casta and Bankes shifts into gold medal position … Can she stay in pole position into the final section? YES! GREAT BRITAIN WIN GOLD! Their first ever Olympic medal in this event!Bankes is cool, calm as she crosses the finish line. Meanwhile, Nightingale has absolutely launched himself into the GB fans. Italy take silver and France with the bronze.Aha, Graham Searles is here to relieve me, so I’ll budge up and allow him to get settled and ready for that final coming up seven minutes from now. Peace out
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