Andy Burnham may have set up “No. 10 North” in record time, but he has also brought in a team of unelected officials to run the show at Downing Street.
“Hope Not Hate”
This month, Alison Phillips resigned as CEO of Labour Together to join Team Burnham. She was soon appointed as his deputy chief of staff.
Until July 16th, Philips was also a director of Hope not Hate, who campaigned heavily for a Burnham victory in the Makerfield by-election, which had been triggered by Josh Simons’ resignation. Now, their staff are occupying key positions at Number 10.
Matthew McGregor, another former Hope not Hate director, is Burnham’s new head of political strategy. In 2021, McGregor contributed to Hope not Hate’s annual report alongside ex-Labour councillor Liron Velleman. Velleman is now a convicted child sex offender.
Velleman, an ex-policy officer for Hope not Hate, sent an explicit video to a police officer he thought was a 13 year-old girl. He served as a Labour councillor in Barnet alongside Jewish Labour Movement national chair and ex-Israeli embassy staffer Ella Rose-Jacobs, who lost her seat at the local elections in May.
Ruth Anderson is yet another ex-Hope not Hate director promoted by Burnham last week. Anderson has worked for a litany of lobby groups, including Labour Friends of Israel, JLM, and BICOM. In 2009, she was named as a “strictly protect” informant in a US embassy cable.
Katz holds the Lords’ whip
Mike Katz has never been elected as a Member of Parliament. Nevertheless, Burnham has re-appointed him as a Labour government whip in the House of Lords. In July 2021, just after Katz was appointed JLM chair, McGregor interviewed him for Hope not Hate’s podcast.
Meanwhile, James Purnell is Burnham’s new chief of staff at Downing Street. In 2002, Purnell met with then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv, praising him as a “rational” man. He also described his visit to a:
conference of the great and the good of Israeli politics.
Barak is known to have visited notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s New York townhouse more than thirty times.
Graeme Cooke was previously a special adviser to Purnell, and the two men remain close allies. Purnell previously served as chair of the Labour Friends of Israel lobby group. Burnham just made Cooke director of policy at Number 10.
Burnham’s Friends of Israel
Ian Austin, another unelected life peer, will now serve as Andy Burnham’s UK Trade Envoy to Israel, with the role being overseen by Jonathan Reynolds, Burnham’s pick for Trade Secretary. Reynolds is also a former vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel.
Varun Chandra, previously a special adviser to Keir Starmer, has been re-appointed by Andy Burnham. Chandra was a founding chairman of Hakluyt, a corporate intelligence firm founded by ex-MI6 officers. Hakluyt’s advisory board is now led by former Conservative Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Hague met with wanted fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu in 2013, saying at the time:
I am pleased to be back in Israel.
Hayden Munro will be Burnham’s new political director at Number 10. Munro previously worked for lobbying firm Arden Strategies, which was run by ex-Labour MP Jim Murphy. Murphy was James Purnell’s predecessor as Labour Friends of Israel chair.
Burnham has also given a job to Nathan Yeowell, who comes in as a special adviser at Number 10. Yeowell was quickly congratulated on his appointment by Labour MP and former Israel lobbyist Luke Akehurst, his former co-director at Labour to Win.
Whilst the mainstream media focuses on cabinet appointments, Burnham has quietly assembled a team of unelected lobbyists to dictate government policy. With their help, he is intent on securing his grip on power.
Featured image via the Canary
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