Starmer starting to sound like Manuel saying yet again he knew nothing of the latest smear scandal with Labour Together. Que?
Another day, another Labour scandal unfolds and once again, Sir Keir 'Manuel' Starmer is playing the innocent bystander saying he knew nothing of it. It's getting seriously tedious now.
The suspicions have rumbled on for a few months now after the donations scandal but new reports reveal that the Starmer friendly think tank Labour Together have now paid £36,000 to US lobbying firm APCO Worldwide to dig dirt on journalists who they wanted revenge on. These weren’t random hacks, they were targeted at Sunday Times reporters Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke, along with others from The Guardian who had exposed the think tank’s failure to declare over £730,000 in donations between 2017 and 2020.
The dossier to discredit and manipulate journalists
The report was a 58 page hatchet job packed with personal smears, false claims linking journalists to Russian sabotage and hacked emails, snide notes on one reporter’s Jewish heritage and private relationships. The dossier did its job, thus shared with senior Labour figures, including current Cabinet ministers and special advisers. The objective and end result? A coordinated Westminster campaign to discredit the Sunday Times and journalists in the run-up to the election, painting them as Kremlin stooges.
You wont be surprised to hear that Morgan McSweeney was running Labour Together when the donations scandal went undeclared. Yes, that’s McSweeney, Starmer’s former all powerful chief of staff who resigned amid the Peter Mandelson / Epstein trading secrets for cash scandal.
His successor Josh Simons, now a Cabinet Office minister, commissioned the APCO probe in to what occurred. Simons claims it was only about a suspected illegal hack and he ordered the worst personal attacks removed before sharing a redacted version with the National Cyber Security Centre. Really? Labour suddenly has a conscience? I struggle to believe that after the evidence of the atrocious Labour activities over the last 18 months.
Starmer in denial mode
The Public Relations and Communications Association is already investigating APCO’s conduct. The Cabinet Office says it’s looking into the claims. And Starmer? In classic form, he told reporters today: “I didn’t know anything about this investigation.” Deny, deny, deny. The Labour leader’s favourite three word strategy, whether it’s dodgy donations, sleazy appointments, CPS failings or now an outright smear operation against the free press. It’s the same old story.
This isn’t just grubby politics. It’s a direct attack on journalistic scrutiny by the very people now running the country. A think tank that helped deliver Starmer’s majority weaponised lobbyists to intimidate reporters who were exposing their dodgy funding. No wonder the main stream media have been so quiet to Labour since they took power and even last week not even mentioning the Rupert Lowe Independent Rape Gang Inquiry.
How many more ‘I knew nothing’ moments before everyone realise the pattern? Labour came in promising integrity. Instead, we’re getting more sleaze, more cover-ups, and more character assassination, all while they lecture everyone else about standards and how the ‘far right’ are the really danger to the UK.
The Cabinet Office probe is welcome, but it won’t clean up the stench. McSweeney may be gone, but the rot he left behind is still very much in government. Starmer’s ‘nothing to see here’ act is wearing dangerously thin.
The previous Labour Togethers donations scandal
This new scandal follows on from the previous scandal with Labour Together;
The Undeclared Funds: Labour Together, a members association required to report donations above a certain threshold, received more than £700,000 from wealthy individuals and businessmen that were not declared to the Electoral Commission within the required 30 days.
Morgan McSweeney’s Role: Morgan McSweeney, was the director of Labour Together during the period the donations were not reported. The failure to declare the funds has been a central point of the allegations against him.
Electoral Commission Fine: In 2021, the Electoral Commission concluded its investigation and fined Labour Together £14,250 for over 20 breaches of electoral law, including failing to report donations accurately and on time. The commission at the time was satisfied with the sanctions imposed.
Admin Error Advice: Leaked emails, published in September 2025, show a lawyer for Labour Together advised presenting the failure to declare the donations as an “admin error” to minimise publicity, despite the lawyer admitting there was “no easy way to explain” how the situation occurred.
Renewed Calls for Investigation: The leaked emails prompted the Conservative Party chairman, Kevin Hollinrake, to call for the Electoral Commission to reopen its investigation and potentially refer the case to the police, as knowingly misleading the commission can be a criminal offence. The Commission, however, has stated it will not reopen the probe based on the information shared.
Britain deserves better than this. We need to Restore Britain.