Labour Together ‘making clean break’ after former director resigns as minister

The Guardian - World NewsEN 4 min read 100% complete by Rowena Mason Whitehall editorMarch 1, 2026 at 07:46 PM

AI Summary

long article 4 min

Labour Together, a think tank that supported Keir Starmer, is distancing itself after its former director, Josh Simons, resigned as a Cabinet Office minister. Simons resigned due to a scandal involving a report he commissioned in 2023 that investigated journalists looking into Labour Together's undeclared donations exceeding £700,000. The report, conducted by a lobbying firm, falsely linked journalists to a "pro-Kremlin" network. Labour Together's failure to declare donations between 2017 and 2020 occurred under Morgan McSweeney, now Starmer's chief of staff. The Conservative party is calling for Starmer to cut ties with Labour Together and return their donations, while some Labour MPs have expressed disappointment with Starmer's handling of the situation.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Karl Turner 30% Clive Lewis 30% Tom Harper 40% Conservative Party 40% Kemi Badenoch 40% Cabinet Office ×250% Sunday Times ×250% Guardian ×250% Apco ×350% Keir Starmer ×490% Labour Together ×10100% Josh Simons ×10100%

Keywords

labour together 100% josh simons 90% resignation 80% donation scandal 70% keir starmer 60% pro-kremlin network 60% political ethics 50% lobbying firm 50% electoral commission 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.40

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Source

The Guardian - World News

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90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

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