John McDonnell

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Members of Parliament on both sides of the House have raised concerns in the House about the activities of the organisation called Labour Together. Labour Together was exposed by a group of journalists for wrongdoings, including the non-declaration of political donations to the Electoral Commission. Members were concerned that Labour Together had commissioned a US agency, APCO, to collect information and investigate the journalists. APCO produced a report, which was then used in attempts to smear those two journalists, affecting their careers. After that matter was raised in the House, I was contacted by a journalist, and it was indicated that Labour Together might have been collecting information on not just journalists but possibly Members of Parliament. I submitted a subject access request to Labour Together, which replied that because this is a complex case, the deadline for responding will be three months, not one month. I also submitted a subject access request to the US agency APCO, and I received a reply last night that confirmed that, yes, it has been collecting information on me. It does not say why, or who commissioned the work that it is undertaking. APCO then gave me 11 redacted pages that are nonsensical. Literally whole pages are redacted, except for three or four words on each page, usually just names. I am concerned that an organisation or agency could be collecting information on Members of Parliament. It does not know who for, or for what purpose, but if we look at what happened to those two journalists, the purpose was to smear them and affect their careers. I have called on a number of occasions for an independent inquiry on the activities of Labour Together and APCO. Through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to place on the record again my request for the Government to consider the establishment of an independent inquiry into the activities of both these organisations.