Press freedom groups demand transparency from Reform UK donor over journalist surveillance

Reform UK donor Arron Banks is facing mounting pressure to disclose the full extent of his surveillance of journalists after appearing to admit to hiring private investigators to spy on reporters. The News Media Association (NMA) has condemned the use of private investigators against journalists as an "attack on our democracy," following reports that Banks instructed a firm to examine Gabriel Pogrund, editor of the Sunday Times’ Insight investigations team.

The revelation, first reported in the New Statesman, has led to fears that other journalists examining the funding of Reform and Nigel Farage, including those at the Guardian, could have been targeted. When asked over the weekend whether he had commissioned investigators to surveil reporters at the Guardian, Banks said he was “not really interested in the Guardian” but declined to comment further.

According to the New Statesman, Banks instructed Precision Risk and Intelligence, a private investigations company he once owned, to examine Pogrund. In response to inquiries, Banks told the magazine: “We believe the Sunday Times used hacked information and that was an area of interest. We do have an investigative arm that’s got advanced capabilities.” The Sunday Times has strongly rejected Banks’s suggestion.

Banks, when asked directly by the New Statesman whether he had paid investigators to look into Pogrund, responded: “When you live by the sword, you die by the sword.” Jemimah Steinfeld, the chief executive of Index on Censorship, said Banks should be open and transparent about the extent of his surveillance of journalists. She said: “I really, really hope that it’s not happening to other journalists. But my fear is that it will be, because Gabriel is not the only one’s asking the right questions about Reform.”

Theo Bamber, the chief executive of the NMA, said aggressive attempts to deter journalistic inquiry were at risk of becoming normalised. He said: “Using private investigators to try to deter journalists from making legitimate inquiries about public figures is an attack on our democracy. Sadly, intimidation and abuse of local and national journalists is increasingly used as a weapon to limit scrutiny and deflect attention away from matters of public interest. This must not become normalised.”

Reform UK has denied any knowledge of Banks’s alleged use of investigators. Gawain Towler, a member of Reform’s board and a former head of press for Ukip, said he was uncomfortable with the development but there were legitimate questions as to where journalists were sourcing private information. “Personally I don’t like it,” he said. “But truly how in the light of the situation does one ask questions with a possibility of getting an answer …”

Nicky Morgan, a former Conservative secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said such intrusions in press freedom were “not compatible with an open democracy”. She said: “Investigating a journalist can only be intended to have a chilling effect on free speech.” Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrats’ Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Hiring private investigators to target journalists who are simply doing their jobs is a desperate attempt to dodge accountability.”