If you think reporting on this site doesn’t matter, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who may not have the titleforlong— begs to differ. Beginning in 2023, after publication of a series of “UK Files” exposés on this site, the Starmer-aligned groupLabour Togethercontracted a private firm calledAPCOto investigate me, author Paul Holden,Sunday Timeswriters Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke,Guardianwriter Henry Dyer, Kit Klarenberg ofThe Grayzone,and John McEvoy ofDeclassified UK.
British reporters were shown a statement Wednesday in which a cabinet official claimed to be “distressed” and “furious” that Poglund was targeted, and claimed “no other journalists” were investigated or featured. (Apparently Holden and the rest of us don’t count.) The Labour Together work was commissioned by future MP and current Parliamentary SecretaryJosh Simons, who told theSunday Timeslast weekend: “Those who know me know I think the work of journalists is vital to our democracy.” Simons added it was “nonsense” that APCO was charged with investigating journalists, and that Labour Together was merely interested in investigating a “suspected illegal hack.”
This story was first brokenby Khadija Sharife and Peter Geogheganat the Substack siteDemocracy for Salea week ago, but there have been developments. Not only did Labour Together hire APCO to investigate Holden, me, and others after wepublishedinternal emails and financial information, butLabour Togethertold journalists the APCO reports were passed to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of GCHQ, the British analog to the NSA. This trick has apparently come into increasing use in recent years, with Britain’s passage of the draconianNational Security Act, in addition to more aggressive use of old laws like the Official Secrets Act, which shares “Basically, Everyone is Guilty” qualities with America’s Espionage Act.
A politician calls a friendly mainstream reporter with news that dissident journalistXhas been reported to the NCSC for use of hacked materials, association with Russia, or other offenses. The reporter then calls the journalist to convey the news and seek a reaction. In many cases, reporters fear official trouble and drop their stories. The big tell comes when the reporter doesn’t crack, and the mainstream outlet doesn’t do a story. That happened in this case with Holden.
“So [Labour Together] apparently took this dodgy dossier that APCO had written on me, and gave it to the National Cybersecurity Reporting Centre, and basically said, ‘We think that Paul Holden has received illegal hacks from Russia or China of the Electoral Commission, and we demand that it be investigated.’ And then they briefed that to theGuardian,and theGuardiantried to run a story on me. I said, ‘What on earth are you talking about? This is absolutely insane…’ They eventually backed off.”
The Guardian’sPippa Crerardid not respond to requests for comment.
“This was the same trick that quite a few of the people that I’ve reported on have used. They’ve falsely claimed that I work for Russia or I’m in receipt of Russian hacks. And with some outlets, it scares them off,” said Kit Klarenberg ofThe Grayzone,who’s had the same stuntpulled on himby another publication.“It’s a complete fraud used to silence critical reporting.”
The fact that fellowRacketwriter Ryan Lovelacealso learned of an FBI program targeting journalistsin the States simultaneous to these developments is a coincidence. The American and British probes of reporters came up as ancillary revelations to other stories. In the case of the Labour Together/APCO shenanigans, it’s painful confirmation of the original reports and of a long-developing scandal, one of many reasons it may hit the wobbling Starmer government hard:
Source: Racket News
