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Henry Dyer
@direthoughts.com

Exclusive: Josh Simons claimed to be “surprised” and “furious” at a PR agency’s work to investigate journalists on his behalf. He had been personally involved in naming them to British intelligence officials and falsely linking them to pro-Russian propaganda. w/ @dansabbagh.bsky.social

theguardian.comLabour minister falsely linked journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network in emails to GCHQExclusive: Josh Simons pressed intelligence officials to investigate reporters, in emails described as ‘McCarthyite smear’

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Henry Dyer
@direthoughts.com

Simons was also involved in telling security 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”.

theguardian.comLabour minister falsely linked journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network in emails to GCHQExclusive: Josh Simons pressed intelligence officials to investigate reporters, in emails described as ‘McCarthyite smear’
Henry Dyer
@direthoughts.com

The extraordinary disclosures are contained in emails that Simons and his chief of staff at Labour Together sent to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a division of the spy agency GCHQ, in 2024. A spokesperson for Simons, a Cabinet Office minister, said: “These claims are untrue.”

theguardian.comLabour minister falsely linked journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network in emails to GCHQExclusive: Josh Simons pressed intelligence officials to investigate reporters, in emails described as ‘McCarthyite smear’
Stephen Smith
@gsds3.bsky.social

Followed a little bit later - aeons after it was public knowledge - ‘No one told me about this….Mr Simons was not open about what he’d done’