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Racket News

EXCLUSIVE: Brits Spied on Racket, Other Journalists

The Keir Starmer-aligned group Labour Together had former Racket editor Matt Taibbi and contributor Paul Holden investigated, then passed details to an office in the GCHQ, their NSA analog

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Matt Taibbi
Feb 12, 2026
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LABOUR SNOOPS: Left to right, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Parliamentary Secretary Josh Simons, and just-fired Downing Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney

If you think reporting on this site doesn’t matter, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who may not have the title for long — begs to differ. Beginning in 2023, after publication of a series of “UK Files” exposés on this site, the Starmer-aligned group Labour Together contracted a private firm called APCO to investigate me, author Paul Holden, Sunday Times writers Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke, Guardian writer Henry Dyer, Kit Klarenberg of The Grayzone, and John McEvoy of Declassified UK.

British reporters were shown a statement Wednesday in which a cabinet official claimed to be “distressed” and “furious” that Pogrund was targeted, and claimed “no other journalists” were investigated or featured. (Apparently Holden and the rest of us don’t count.) The Labour Together work was commissioned by future MP and current Parliamentary Secretar…

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