Labour Think Tank Cleans House After Scandal

0:00On March 1st, this episode is brought to you by NordVPN, fast, reliable online privacy. Links in the episode description. Here's the latest in UK news. A labor think tank called Labor Together, which played a big role in helping Kierst Armor win power, has announced a clean break from its past. Troubles. Its former director, Josh Simons, just resigned as a cabinet office minister after a scandal involving a report that wrongly tied journalists to A, Pro Kremlin Network. Back in 2023, Simons hired a lobbying firm for 36,000 pounds to dig into reporters from the Sunday Times, the Guardian, and others. Those journalists were looking into Labor Together's failure to declare more than 700,000 pounds in donations from 2017 to 2020. Reactions have been sharp across the board. Conservative leader, Kimmy Badenoff, demanded Starmer cut all ties with the group and return its donations. Some Labor MPs expressed disappointment in the Prime Minister's handling, calling for a broader probe into the think tank's past activities, which once led to fines under now chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, an independent review cleared Simons of breaking ministerial rules, but noted the issue caused too much distraction.

1:17Labor Together's board says it was never shown the contract or report, and they've now set up an audit committee and whistleblower policy to move. Forward. Starmer accepted the resignation, stressing that journalists must work freely to hold leaders accountable. With these changes in place, the focus shifts to how Labor Together rebuilds trust while backing the government.