Labour Together Do donation claims about PM stack up?

The Conservatives are urging Commons standards officials and the police to investigate money donated to the Labour Together group and whether Keir Starmer potentially benefited from it. So what is the row about? And do the Tory claims stand up?

- Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

What is Labour Together?

Labour Together is a thinktank and campaigning group closely linked to the Labour party. While often referred to as a vehicle for Starmer and his allies, it predates his leadership. Launched in 2015 after the party’s election defeat, it relaunched in 2017 under the leadership of Morgan McSweeney, now Starmer’s chief of staff, as a vehicle for wresting control of the party from Jeremy Corbyn.

When Corbyn stepped down in 2019, the project coalesced around Starmer, with McSweeney heading his campaign. Labour Together raised large sums in donations at the time, which is at the centre of the controversy. The Electoral Commission (EC) considers Labour Together to be a party members' association, given its close links to Labour, meaning it is obliged to declare donations. In 2021 the elections watchdog fined Labour Together £14,250 for failing to properly declare almost £740,000 of donations. The group blamed an “administrative error”.

Why is this suddenly in the news?