Keir Starmer opens investigation into Josh Simons over targeting of reporters

Mon, 23 Feb 2026

PM asks ethics adviser to examine conduct of Cabinet Office minister amid Labour Together scandal fallout

Keir Starmer has opened a formal investigation into a Cabinet Office minister involved in falsely accusing journalists of having links to pro-Russian propaganda.

The prime minister’s decision follows revelations in the Guardian that Josh Simons, who was running the thinktank Labour Together at the time, was also involved in telling British intelligence officials that another journalist was “living with” the daughter of a former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn. Officials were told by Simons’ team that the former adviser was “suspected of links to Russian intelligence”.