The journalist at the centre of the unfolding McSweeneygate scandal claims private investigators were hired to undermine his inquiries.
Paul Holden alleges Labour Together called in private detectives after learning he was uncovering new information over the think-tank’s failure to declare more than £700,000 of donations while Keir Starmer‘s aide Morgan McSweeney was in charge.
Father-of-two Mr Holden, 42, told The Mail on Sunday he had been ‘pretty damn scared’ to learn that a seasoned investigative journalist like him was being investigated himself.
And it was all allegedly at the behest of a think-tank closely associated with the Labour Party and which was seen as crucial to how Sir Keir became Labour leader.
Mr Holden also claims that Josh Simons, a former director of Labour Together but now a Cabinet Office Minister, was at least aware of the use of private research into him.
‘It was all very worrying,’ Mr Holden said. ‘I was told these private detectives were looking into me, my family and my colleagues – all at the request of Labour Together.
‘I could only assume they were digging dirt to discredit me or my research. The investigators were trying to find out how I was getting all my information – not challenge its accuracy.’
Labour Together and Mr Simons, MP for Makerfield, near Wigan, declined to comment on the claims.
Paul Holden (above) told The Mail on Sunday he had been ‘pretty damn scared’ to learn that a seasoned investigative journalist like him was being investigated himself
Mr Holden’s detailed allegations are set out in his forthcoming book The Fraud, which has already prompted the resignation of No 10 director of political strategy Paul Ovenden over sexual remarks made about Diane Abbott, the longstanding former Labour MP, now sitting as an independent, who is an ex-girlfriend of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The book is billed as an exposure of the ‘intrigues, stratagems and deceits’ that helped to propel Sir Keir into Downing Street, with a particular focus on the ‘machinations’ made possible by Mr McSweeney’s failure to disclose huge donations to the Labour Together group, later credited for helping Sir Keir’s leadership bid.
After Mr McSweeney left the campaign group to work for Sir Keir – he is now the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff – Labour Together was fined £14,250 for late declaration of the donations.
However, the thrust of Mr Holden’s research is that the failure to declare the cash on time was not down to ‘human error and administrative oversight’ as claimed by the think-tank.
Rather, he claims it was potentially a deliberate attempt by Mr McSweeney to hide the donations later used to help propel Sir Keir into a position to restore Labour after Mr Corbyn’s Left-wing leadership.
And that poses grave questions over not just Mr McSweeney’s behaviour but over the integrity and honesty of the Prime Minister.
South African-born Mr Holden said that he was no stranger to the often murky world of investigations, describing himself as someone who had been probing ‘corruption and serious economic crime’ for the last 15 years.
That includes investigating deep-seated corruption in his native country when former President Jacob Zuma was in power, inquiries so sensitive that he thought it wise to relocate to the UK.
Mr Holden’s detailed allegations are set out in his forthcoming book The Fraud (above) which has already prompted the resignation of No 10 director of political strategy Paul Ovenden
But even he was shaken to be told after Labour had won the 2024 election that he was a ‘significant person of interest’ to private investigators.
Mr Holden recalls how he was contacted by an old friend and ‘formidable researcher’ who had been looking into how ‘reputation management agencies in the UK (and the private intelligence firms they subcontracted) were used by rich clients and multi-nationals to manage problematic allegations’.
He claims that the inquiries began shortly after his research would first have become known to Labour Together in November 2023.
Labour Together has insisted it ‘proactively raised concerns’ with the Electoral Commission over the undeclared donations and has since ‘taken measures’ to ensure it was ‘fully compliant with all Electoral Commission regulations’.
The watchdog declined Tory requests last week to reopen its 2021 investigation into the think-tank, saying it had found ‘no evidence of any other potential offences’.
However, Mr Holden insisted no one who read his book would ‘come away with the impression that Morgan McSweeney is a fit and proper person to be in the important position he is in now’.
