KEIR Starmer walked out of the Commons as an MP raised fresh spying allegations about a firm linked to a shadowy think tank close to the Prime Minister.
John McDonnell brought up claims that Apco Worldwide, the firm contracted by Labour Together to snoop on journalists, had sought to destroy evidence and also held information about MPs, in Parliament on Wednesday.
The former shadow chancellor pointed to a report in the Financial Times which said that Apco Worldwide head of media relations in Europe, Tom Harper, had told an unnamed contractor to “get rid of everything” after receiving a legal notice to preserve records.
Citing a leaked recording obtained by the paper, the Financial Times reported that Harper also raised concerns about how to delete a secure email account without it being picked up by “digital forensics”.
Labour Together contracted Apco Worldwide to spy on journalists, including investigative reporter Paul Holden and the Sunday Times’s Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke, for reporting on undisclosed donations to the influential think tank, which helped propel Starmer to power and remains close to the PM.
It is reported that News UK, the owner of the Sunday Times, is currently in a dispute with Apco and Labour Together.
The firm composed a report for Labour Together which included what has been characterised as "smears" against the journalists, including that they were linked to the Kremlin, which then-director Josh Simons flagged to the National Cyber Security Services.
The Financial Times reported that Harper was heard saying: “The general counsel called me, and he says that I need to forward on, I need to forward on the threat from the legal counsel of News UK, to sort of preserve documents and stuff.
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He added: “In the event that this blows up and there’s a long-running litigation or whatever, you know, I just – basically get rid of everything, anything you need to now.”
Citing the leaked recording, Harper also refers to a secure Proton Mail account he appears to want to wipe. The Financial Times reported that he said: “If this gets to litigation, and phones are analysed, and they know about that Proton Mail account, if I now delete it, if I use my private phone, that’s not an APCO phone, to delete it.
“Will they be able to see that through digital forensics or something like that?”
The scandal around Labour Together spying on journalists caused the resignation of Josh Simons, who had ordered the Apco investigation into journalists while head of the think tank, from the UK Government. Simons succeeded Morgan McSweeney, who went on to work as Starmer's top aide, as director of Labour Together.
McDonnell, now a Labour backbencher and critic of the Prime Minister, raised the matter in a point of order immediately after Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday and alleged that Apco had also gathered material about MPs.
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle later said the MP’s claims raised potentially “serious security implications” that he would also pursue.
Starmer stayed for much of the former shadow chancellor’s intervention but was seen leaving before he had finished speaking.
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McDonnell, secretary of the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) parliamentary group, said that MPs had submitted subject access requests to Apco and Labour Together and that the former had “confirmed, in a very redacted form, that information on MPs was being collected”.
He added: “On behalf of the NUJ parliamentary group, I want to express our concern but also it is important from the NUJ parliamentary group, we are concerned about the smearing of journalists but we also need to know what, if any surveillance of honourable members was taking place and for what purposes and we call again for an independent into Apco’s role and Labour Together’s role in this issue.”
Hoyle replied: “It is a very, very serious allegation that I do take seriously. Members of Parliament are here to carry out their duties and what is being alleged is very serious I do believe it needs to be investigated thoroughly.
“From my point of view, I would expect, as the hon gentleman has been here a long time, no doubt he will use the table office as part of the avenues to pursue what he’s said.
“There may be other ways and there may be serious security implications to this house as well that I will also take up in other avenues.”
Apco’s lawyers told the Financial Times that it had “acted promptly to preserve documents” and had no knowledge of any intention to destroy records.
They also said: “Mr Harper has denied that he ever instructed the contractor to destroy any materials in contradiction of the APCO Legal Hold that was communicated to them both.”
The National approached Apco for further comment.
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