Politics LIVE: Keir Starmer dogged by all-new scandal as PM now urged to launch 'creepy spy' probe - 'Did he know?'

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to address an all-new Labour scandal amid reports of a "smear campaign" against journalists.

The PM is being pressured to investigate links between one of his ministers and Labour Together, a prominent think tank accused of paying a PR firm to investigate reporting into its funding.

Labour Together is said to have hired PR firm Apco Worldwide to look into various reporters and identify their sources after stories about the £700,000 donations scandal.

The Sunday Times reported that Apco was paid £36,000 to carry out the investigation in 2023, when Labour Together was run by Josh Simons, now a Cabinet Office Minister.

The Conservative Party has now written to Labour chairwoman Anna Turley urging her to investigate Mr Simons' role in hiring Apco.

Labour has also been told to investigate the role of other Labour Together directors, including "serving Cabinet ministers", and to set out whether the party still considers it appropriate for Labour MPs to take cash from the think tank.

Labour should suspend all engagement with Labour Together "until all allegations have been independently investigated", Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said.

SNP Westminster chief Stephen Flynn urged the PM to sack Mr Simons as a minister, as he is "at the centre of this creepy spy scandal", while Reform UK's Nadhim Zahawi has raised questions over whether Sir Keir knew about the "smear campaign".

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PM faces pressure from ALL sides to probe Labour Together 'smear campaign' scandal

As well as the Tories' letter and Stephen Flynn's "creepy spy" jab, the Prime Minister is facing fury from all angles over the "creepy spy scandal" - including his own party.

Left-wing backbencher Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, told The Telegraph that both Labour and the Prime Minister “should now commit to full co-operation with an independent inquiry to establish the facts: what was commissioned, who authorised it, who knew about it, and how far it went”.

Another Labour backbencher demanded an investigation into Mr Simons for allegedly commissioning the research.

“I definitely think there should be an investigation followed by immediate disciplinary action if the facts are verified,” one MP said.

Reform UK’s Nadhim Zahawi said: “This is a huge story. If this was any other party, the calls for an investigation would be deafening.

“We need to know who knew about this inside Labour. Did the PM know?”

'FULL transparency!' Kevin Hollinrake issues statement on letter to Labour's Anna Turley

Kevin Hollinrake, behind the letter to Labour chairwoman Anna Turley, said last night: "Labour Together’s behaviour shows a worrying contempt for the free press, a fundamental foundation of our democracy.

"With its close and widely known links to the heart of Government, serious questions must be answered about who was aware of these actions, including whether senior figures around the Prime Minister knew.

"After Starmer’s attempts to deflect from the Mandelson-Epstein affair, the public will accept nothing less than full transparency."

Josh Simons says he was 'shocked and surprised' after scandal emerged

Josh Simons, the minister at the centre of the row, told The Sunday Times: “I was surprised and shocked to read the report extended beyond the contract by including unnecessary information on (Times journalist) Gabriel Pogrund.

“I asked for this information to be removed before passing the report to GCHQ. No other British journalists were investigated in any document I or Labour Together ever received.”

Alison Phillips, the CEO of Labour Together, wrote to staff saying she was "horrified" by the scandal - and said she had been assured it was “not the intention” to look into reporters.

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