Polanski calls for investigation of Labour’s relationship with MI6 firm

Green party leader Zack Polanski has demanded a public inquiry into the Starmer Labour party’s relationship with a firm founded by British intelligence agents.

OpenDemocracy has revealed that Keir Starmer’s top business adviser ran Hakluyt until he resigned as managing partner to work at Number 10, but still receives £112,000 a year from the firm as well as his government pay. Hakluyt, a “secretive corporate intelligence firm”, worked for free for Starmer’s party before it got into government, helping Starmer connect with corporate megadonors as his broken promises saw membership revenues collapse. But it seems there’s no such thing as a free lunch — and its revenues are now soaring.

But the Hakluyt connection goes further. Sacked civil servant Olly Robbins this week exposed the government’s trampling of security protocols to install disgraced Epstein-pal Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US. But Robinson also left Hakluyt, at the beginning of 2025, to take up a top government job. Robinson became the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant.

Zack Polanski — ‘Revolving door’

Zack Polanski said that companies’ “privileged access to political and regulatory insight” damages public trust and must be investigated — and that the Greens would end the “revolving door” if in government:

This is yet another revelation raising serious questions about Labour’s cosy relationship with big business. Bringing a senior figure from an elite corporate intelligence firm into the heart of government is deeply concerning.

When companies built on privileged access to political and regulatory insight appear to benefit from close ties to those in office, it undermines public trust.

The public deserve proper answers. Labour’s relationship with Hakluyt, before and after the election, should be investigated. The revolving door between big business and Westminster is still spinning – and it’s a system a Green government would work to dismantle.

A Downing Street spokesperson claimed that:

The Cabinet Office has a thorough process on declarations of interest for special advisers to ensure any conflicts of interest are properly managed and mitigated, including through recusals where appropriate.

Yes, no doubt about as thorough as its vetting procedures for disgraced cronies wanting to become ambassadors.

Polanski has been subjected to continually-escalating smears since the Greens overtook Labour as the main political option against the far-right ‘Reform UK’. His pledge to address big business’s undue influence in the corridors of power will only push the attacks in one direction.

Featured image via the Canary