UK

“Burn down the party to inherit the ashes”: the inside story of Labour Together

FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Andrew Coates reviews The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy, by Paul Holden, published by OR Books.

Barely a day goes past without Labour Together appearing in a major news story. The think tank that claims to offer “Bold ideas for a Labour government” is now known not only for factionalism, but for commissioning, amongst other operations, a report which looked into the background of a number of journalists. The author of this book, Paul Holden, who is a member of the National Union of Journalists, was said to be “part of a far-left network… which disseminates pro-Russian propaganda.”

The book looks in great detail at the central role of Labour Together. Headed by the now notorious, and disgraced, Morgan McSweeney, it began preparing for the aftermath of Labour’s 2017 General Election defeat. Investigating “the Starmer project”, the author states that the Labour Together Project had two missions.

The first was to prepare a candidate who would replace Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The second, Holden alleges, was to “ensure Labour lost badly” – a view also reported by journalists Maguire and Pogrund. Only this would pave the way for the Party’s renewal.

McSweeney and his allies would “burn down the party to inherit the ashes.” The “conspiracy to destroy Corbynism” was carried out in “utmost secrecy”. This was made possible through hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations, which McSweeney apparently failed to report to the Electoral Commission, “as required by law”.

One aspect above all stands out. The Labour Together Project would, using some evidence of “undeniable antisemitism”, help push a tidal wave of panic about antisemitism in Corbyn’s Labour Party. Labour Together was “at least one hidden hand orchestrating the ‘antisemitism crisis’.” Its vehicles included the ‘astroturf’ bodies, Stop Funding Fake News which was the centre of the rows, and overseen by Labour Together. and the Center [sic] for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).

This “proxy battle” between the pro-Israel establishment and “non-conformist” and “non-Zionist” Jews in the labour movement ran deep. It did not just serve Labour Together’s factional ends. Used in a mission to “permanently destroy the Labour left”, it ended with expulsions of Labour members. Many will know the personal grief this caused, and the intense arguments that led, in some cases, to the break-up of sometimes decades-long alliances and friendships on the left.

There is a great deal more detail about the Starmer Project. extending from moral panic to the investigation and suspension of Labour Conferences delegates, to stich-ups over candidate selection. It’ not surprising that The Fraud has many enemies, prepared to plough through its lengthy, 541-page narrative, a read not helped by the lack of an index or a glossary for the numerous acronyms.

That a leader with a background in the 1980s radical left could end with a group that exulted in “pushing the heads of left-wingers in school toilets” is bad enough. But Starmer’s increasingly Faragist rhetoric, resented by BAME staff, his “embrace of the Billionaires” and support, with whispered reservations, for Israel’s war on Gaza, overshadow present day politics.

The rickety legacy of Labour’s “loveless landslide” 2025 electoral victory is still playing out. On 8th February 2026, following increasing internal pressures, McSweeney resigned as Starmer’s chief of staff. The May local elections, which are predicted to see a surge in Reform and Green wins, are approaching.

Andrew Coates is a European socialist internationalist who lives in East Anglia. He blogs here.

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Backbench Labour MPs call for an independent investigation into Labour Together

FEBRUARY 23, 2026

Ian Byrne, John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Clive Lewis are among two dozen Labour MPs calling for a fully independent investigation into the allegations surrounding the shadowy Labour Together group in an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour Party General Secretary today.

The last week has been dominated by media revelations alleging that Labour Together hired a PR company to snoop on the background of journalists who were investigating legitimate matters of public interest.

 Labour Together paid APCO Worldwide at least £30,000 to “investigate the sourcing, funding and origins” of a story about its undeclared donations before the general election. APCO’s  report included details about a journalist’s Jewish faith, relationships and upbringing. It claimed – without evidence – that the story was based on data hacked from the Electoral Commission, which it linked to Russia.

Today, according to the Sunday Times, the man who authored the report has since been examining an investigations correspondent at the Guardian, who has been reporting on the revelations, as recently as last week, and suggesting – without any evidence – that he too could have been part of a wider pro-Russia campaign.

Last week, the Telegraph reported that Labour Together director Josh Simons “used a law firm to smear a journalist who was looking into pro-Starmer group Labour Together.” It claimed he instructed Mishcon de Reya to warn Telegraph journalists that it had ‘serious doubts about [the] motivation’ of Paul Holden, who was writing a book about the Starmerite think tank, and ‘his credibility should be treated with extreme caution’.”

It further emerged that Simons was also involved in telling security officials that journalist Paul Holden 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”.

Paul Holden’s book The Fraud lifts the lid on the workings of Labour Together and its role in Keir Starmer’s rise to the Labour leadership. The sources of much of the information collated are Party whistleblowers. As for his personal relationships, they are mentioned in the Acknowledgments at the end of the book – hardly a secret and certainly not a matter for the security services.

Over 100 Labour MPs are thought to have benefited from Labour Together donations to their election campaigns. Many are prominent Starmer supporters, including some Cabinet members.

Last week, the Prime Minister succumbed to backbench pressure and set up a Cabinet Office inquiry into the affair. The problem is that the key Labour Together director Josh Simons at the centre of the allegations is now a minister at the Cabinet Office in charge of the inquiry.

That is why today’s letter from backbench MPs calls for an independent investigation. “Any investigation led or overseen by government departments containing individuals with past or present links to Labour Together risks undermining public trust,” it says.

The letter calls for a full independent investigation, with clear published terms of reference and a commitment that its findings will be made public in full.

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