Claire McNab2d ago

In 2002, #JamesPurnell was a newbie MP, office-sharing with newbie #AndyBurnham.

James was chair of #LabourFriendsOfIsrael. #LFI took him to #Israel, as he wrote in #TheGuardian.https://archive.is/XP2g5 / https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/dec/12/israelandthepalestinians.jamespurnell

Usual #Israeli #hasbara via LFI. Purnell was on script.

Read it. No hint of a #Palestinian voice. James heard only Israel. 🤮

Now in 2026, #Purnell will be Chief-of-staff to Prime Minister #Burnham.

#Genocide in #Gaza. #Andy's #zionist at the core of #UKgov. 😡

#ukpol

Show threadstrangetown

@2legged
Purnell is a complete scumbag and his stance regarding Israel is just one of the reasons as to why.
Quoting Pem Sikka from a bluesky post:
'In earlier incarnation, he supported the Iraq invasion; was chairman of Labour Friends of Israel; said that Winter Fuel Allowance and free bus passes should not be sacred; supported PFI, lie-detector tests for benefit claimants.'

That Andy Burnham has chosen to appoint him says a great deal about Burnham and what we can expect

Jun 24 at 5:37pmWeb
Show threadClaire McNab2d ago

@strangetown The first bit is I think that #Purnell was not actually chosen for his ideological repulsiveness.

I reckon that ideologically footloose and intellectually lightweight Andy was driven primarily by romance, by misty memories of his old desk-buddy. Burnham could choose any one of scores of highly-skilled people, but instead he went back to sepia tinted memories of long evenings with too many cheap pints,

Show threadstrangetown2d ago
@2legged
You think? I am not convinced.
Show threadClaire McNab2d ago

@strangetown I have never met Burnham, and am no psychiatrist. So I have no proof, and no professional standing.

But Burnham's political career has been notably unintellectual. He is not an ideas man. He's a Blairite in a tribal sorta way, rather than analytically. When intellectually tested in 2010 and 2015, he was an empty suit.

That's why I reckon Purnell was probably chosen primarily as talented pal, rather than as talented ideologue.

Show threadstrangetown2d ago
@2legged
Fair enough :)