Keir Starmer is the least popular prime minister ever. So he’s desperate for people to say nice things about his government. And it seems he may be paying people to do just that.

A new Declassified UK story has revealed that a dodgy digital company with links to both Labour and Israel has been looking for both journalists and ‘influencers’ that will speak positively about the government for money. Ex-staffers from the party founded 411, which claims not to have formal ties to Labour but doesn’t reveal who funds it. Some current Labour employees work there too.

Former Israeli intelligence officer Assaf Kaplan, meanwhile, is currently one of 411’s directors. He worked in cyberwarfare for the apartheid state before working with Labour on Starmer’s social media game.

Starmer’s Labour, a genocidal apartheid state, and social media influencers – what’s not to hate?

411 has sought to “flood the internet” with content highlighting Labour ‘achievements’ and criticising political opponents by paying creators £50 a week to put out at least five videos. And these propagandists have to promise not to say anything about the deal.

Advertising rules in Britain say declaring political sponsorship is essential, but 411 seems to play these rules by giving creators a certain amount of freedom.

This seems to be an increasingly common political tactic from establishment parties, with Labour’s Democratic counterparts in the US apparently offering to pay influencers $8,000 a month to do a similar job.

Not the way to stop the far right

The benefits of using this kind of strategy, however, are dubious. As author Paul Holden told Declassified:

These sorts of paid-for influencer campaigns are both silly and self-defeating.

When they are inevitably uncovered, they undermine the public’s trust and make people more responsive to the overtures of the likes of [Nigel] Farage. You can’t fight misinformation with astroturf campaigns. It’s stupid to even try.

The far right has genocide-backing billionaires on its side. So cheap propaganda won’t defeat it. In fact, it just makes politicians look like they have nothing better to offer.

The problem is, Starmer’s Labour doesn’t.

If Labour really cared more about defeating the far right than pleasing its corporate donors, it would listen to the voters leaving it in droves. These people overwhelmingly want a party that will actually look after their pockets and their public services. But all Starmer’s cronies have are cringey, meaningless soundbites. And now, their embarrassing undercover influencing campaign just makes them look even worse.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

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