Shadow World Investigations

2.4K posts

Shadow World Investigations banner
Shadow World Investigations

Shadow World Investigations

@ShadowWorldInv1

We undertake path-breaking investigations into cases of grand corruption, corporate malfeasance and excessive militarism, predominantly in the global arms trade

Beigetreten Ağustos 2019
686 Folgt4K Follower
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
PoliticsJOE
PoliticsJOE@PoliticsJOE_UK·
"While it was happening, it was scary. Genuinely scary." Paul Holden on how Josh Simons' APCO deal could have destroyed his career.
English
2
109
205
11.8K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Andrew Feinstein
Andrew Feinstein@andrewfeinstein·
Astonishing how much media time Tony Blair gets: a war criminal & profiteer who illegally led Britain into war, who has profited to the tune of tens of millions from wars & who is an integral part of the Trump/Netanyahu evil alliance. In a sane society he would be in jail. But in Britain the establishment media salivates over his every reactionary word
Richard Sanders@PulaRJS

To defeat antisemitism you must support Israel. Tony Blair's political journey reaches its logical destination - a fraction to the left of Benjamin Netanyahu. web.archive.org/web/2026032906…

English
90
1.3K
2.4K
41.5K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
PoliticsJOE
PoliticsJOE@PoliticsJOE_UK·
Want to understand this? Watch this: youtu.be/feph25Lcs18?si…
YouTube video
YouTube
The Fraud@StarmertheFraud

PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination

English
1
21
55
14.9K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Richard Burgon MP
Richard Burgon MP@RichardBurgon·
This simply won't wash. It wasn’t just journalists who were targeted by Labour Together's private investigators. It appears Labour MPs were targeted too. Their investigators have delayed sending their material to me because of the "large volume" they hold on me. We need an independent inquiry into Labour Together.
Richard Burgon MP tweet media
English
97
703
1.4K
35.2K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Canary
Canary@TheCanaryUK·
Laura Kuenssberg gave Josh Simons a flattering response that he gladly accepted, and the BBC reported it as if it were his own words Via @willem_moore_uk thecanary.co/trending/2026/…
English
4
34
80
2.4K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Andrew Feinstein
Andrew Feinstein@andrewfeinstein·
Hodge heading Ofcom would be a typical Starmer appointment: eroding democracy, freedom of speech & expression, deepening authoritarianism & the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on every aspect of British politics & society, & entrenching reactionary allies in every corner of public life
MikeD@mjdaly57

I’ve just seen a tweet saying that Margaret Hodge has been appointed as the new Chair of @Ofcom. Is this true? If it is then it is a deeply concerning appointment considering Hodge’s factional track record in doing everything she could to take down Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of The @UKLabour Party (the manner of her behaviour in doing so) and her prominent, aggressive pro-Israel activism in opposing support for the Palestinian people. This is not an appointment that will ensure a non-partisan running of @ofcom. Hodge will do everything she can to oppose and mute support in the media for the Palestinian people. Hodge is already running the @JewishLabour Movement and is the figurehead of Labour Friends of Israel in the UK Parliament - two aggressive, abusive and ruthless lobby organisations embedded in The Labour Party. One can only presume that Hodge will bring to her role at Ofcom all of her substantial contempt for any support given to the Palestinian people. This is a politically loaded appointment that consolidates the Israel lobby’s grip on politics and the media in the UK. Hodge has prominent client journalists and broadcasters working for her in the MSM including the @guardian’s @PippaCrerar while her daughter, @islingtonlizzi Watson, is a long-standing senior editor at @BBCNews. Wouldn’t it appear therefore that there is a clear conflict of interests behind Hodge’s appointment? Doesn’t it give Hodge the opportunity to exert more undue influence over the British media than she already does? Hodge’s appointment is inflammatory and provocative but not in the least surprising. It’s par for the course with Starmer who is filling every Labour controlled ministry and public office with zealous supporters of Israel. We have seen how documentaries detailing Israeli atrocities in Gaza have been taken down and banned such as Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone. Hodge will ensure that such documentaries will never see the light of day in Britain. Hodge’s appointment will be welcomed by her many friends and ideological allies at home and abroad, not least the indicted war criminal and President of Israel Isaac Herzog whom Margaret Hodge and her Labour Friends of Israel colleagues visit on a regular basis. A deeply worrying appointment - not least in respect of the threat it poses to democratic and impartial transparency in the British media. @Ofcom @_LFI @JewishLabour #LabourCronyism @margarethodge #ItWasAScam @jeremycorbyn @UKLabour @Isaac_Herzog

English
57
656
969
19.1K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
The National
The National@ScotNational·
A journalist who was a victim in a Labour Together 'spying' scandal has blasted the BBC for an interview they had with Josh Simons #Echobox=1774860752-1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">thenational.scot/news/25978693.…
English
5
252
505
5.6K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Media Lens
Media Lens@medialens·
Laura, You and the BBC have serious questions to answer about this interview. A statement from Paul Holden @StarmertheFraud: 'the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues.' x.com/StarmertheFrau…
Media Lens tweet media
English
12
343
576
10.2K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Richard Sanders
Richard Sanders@PulaRJS·
Saturday's BBC Newscast iv with Josh Simons was ridiculously cosy. Simons was caught red-handed attempting to smear journalists and political opponents. His defence - I was only trying to smear the left wing ones! The BBC then invited him on and allowed him to make a whole series of fresh, entirely unfounded allegations against Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein - largely unchallenged. Paul Holden is right to be furious.
The Fraud@StarmertheFraud

PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination

English
12
548
1.4K
31.9K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
John McDonnell
John McDonnell@johnmcdonnellMP·
This failure of the BBC to adhere to basic journalistic standards is truly shocking even by the BBC’s recent performance. I would expect the Director General to respond to explain how this has happened or, failing that, a Board member to intervene.
The Fraud@StarmertheFraud

PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination

English
41
855
2.4K
73.4K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne@OborneTweets·
A shocking statement from Paul Holden. Both Laura Kuenssberg and the BBC have serious questions to answer and owe Mr Holden at the very least an apology.
The Fraud@StarmertheFraud

PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination

English
40
1.1K
2.9K
226.7K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
The Fraud
The Fraud@StarmertheFraud·
PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination
English
118
1.6K
3.1K
526.5K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Campaign Against Arms Trade
Tomorrow marks 11 years since the Saudi-led coalition began their brutal assault on Yemen. More than 377,000 people were killed. Today, the UK continues to support US-Israeli attacks on Yemen. 🗓️ 26th March ⏰ 6:30pm 📍 Downing Street caat.org.uk/events/yemen-w…
Campaign Against Arms Trade tweet media
English
1
18
24
379
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Alborada Films
Alborada Films@alboradafilms·
🎥 🇵🇸 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘢 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘭: 𝘈 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, our new 25 minute documentary for Al Jazeera English’s People & Power strand, can now be watched online. alborada-films.net/the-gaza-tribu… What role has the UK played in Israel’s war on Gaza? We meet those who say it’s complicit in atrocities committed there. 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @pablonav1 (𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐬) & 𝐀𝐦𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 (@AJEnglish) 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐬 (𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞): - John McEvoy, Chief Reporter, Declassified UK (@jmcevoy_2 @declassifiedUK) - Matt Kennard, Investigative Journalist (@kennardmatt @PDeepDive) - Geoffrey Nice, Barrister - Evie Snedker, Global Sumud Flotilla Participant (@gbsumudflotilla) - Kieran Andrieu, Political Economist & Novara Media Contributor (@kieran_andrieu @novaramedia) 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞): - Dr Shahd Hammouri, Palestinian Lawyer - Jeremy Corbyn, UK Member of Parliament (@jeremycorbyn @thisisyourparty @corbyn_project) - Professor Nick Maynard, Surgeon (@maynard_nick) - Abubaker Abed, Palestinian Journalist (@AbubakerAbedW) - Dr Victoria Rose, Surgeon - Forz Khan, Barrister - Mark Smith, Former UK Government Civil Servant - Professor Neve Gordon, Israeli Historian (@nevegordon)
English
1
164
224
16.7K
Shadow World Investigations retweetet
Real Media
Real Media@RealMediaGB·
HAPPENING TOMORROW: Ulm 5 Press Conference Five young activists from Germany, Spain, Ireland, and the UK, known as the Ulm 5, are currently held in repressive pre-trial detention and face human-rights violations in Germany for protesting against genocide. The group was arrested on 8 September 2025 in connection with an action targeting Elbit Systems in Ulm, aimed at disrupting the flow of arms. Elbit Systems is a major supplier of military and surveillance technology used by Israel. Livestream: YouTube @RealMediaGB Instagram @cageinternational
Real Media tweet media
English
0
11
13
655