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Labour think tank commissioned firm to investigate journalists, BBC understands
Labour Together paid £36,000 to Apco to discredit Sunday Times journalists with unfounded claims about Russian ties, sparking an industry review on press freedom.
- Labour Together hired Apco to examine reporters, paying £36,000 for a 58-page dossier codenamed Operation Cannon dated January 2024 and prepared by Tom Harper, Apco senior director and former Sunday Times employee.
- Apco examined sourcing and funding behind The Sunday Times article using documents and `discreet human source enquiries` to discredit the paper by suggesting Russian state involvement.
- Almost ten pages targeted Gabriel Pogrund, The Sunday Times Whitehall editor, with baseless personal claims; a stripped report went to the National Cyber Security Centre, which declined a full probe, while parts circulated among cabinet ministers and special advisers in 2024.
- The Public Relations and Communications Association opened an inquiry last week, Alison Phillips, head of Labour Together, said the group is `ready to support the PRCA`, and the episode may prompt a wider lobbying industry's professional body review of Apco.
- Labour Together used a GCHQ referral to create suspicion, with cabinet ministers and special advisers allegedly believing the report's contents, despite no evidence of Kremlin involvement, and Pogrund remaining sanctioned by Russia.
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A new scandal closely affects some of the British Prime Minister's closest collaborators
·Milan, Italy
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The Times' Labour Together scoop is actually six months old
The big scoop on Sunday 15 February has been that Labour Together paid investigators to spy on journalists. The problem is that this ‘scoop’ actually came out months ago: If you've seen the Sunday Times today you'll know Labour Together were secretly hiring people to investigate journalists. Sadly you won't know that The National exclusively broke this story six months ago, since our work is not credited at all. https://t.co/cbvK1Di18Z — Laura …
·United Kingdom
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left4Leaning Right5Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Right
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources lean Right
46% Right
L 36%
C 18%
R 46%
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