THE Cabinet Office minister at the heart of the Labour Together spy scandal has been referred to the Prime Minister’s ethics watchdog, MPs were told today.

Josh Simons ran the think tank when it allegedly paid for a probe into journalists who covered the group’s failure to declare more than £700,000 in donations linked to PM Sir Keir Starmer’s rise to power.

The Labour MP for Makerfield in north-west England has faced calls to resign from his ministerial post over the scandal.

Sir Keir insisted that he “didn’t know anything about” Labour Together allegedly paying PR firm APCO Worldwide £36,000 to look into the background of journalists in 2023, before instructing the Cabinet Office to “establish the facts.”

Today, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones told the Commons that the issue had now been referred to independent adviser on ministerial standards Sir Laurie Magnus.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has also called for stricter legislation to prevent corporate surveillance of journalists and for an independent inquiry into the allegations.

The union’s parliamentary group is tabling an early day motion outlining concerns that Labour Together commissioned APCO Worldwide in order to gain “leverage” over journalists from The Sunday Times, The Guardian and others who were examining the organisation’s funding.

NUJ general secretary Laura Davison said: “These allegations are alarming. Journalists have a legal right to protect their sources and must be able to report in the public interest without being subjected to surveillance or intimidation.

“The idea that organisations could be contracted to smear journalists and stymie reporting is an affront to press freedom and democracy.”