Is there anyone Andy Burnham didn’t manage to upset with his Sky News interview this morning? Having already seen Anneliese Dodds publicly distance the Labour frontbench from his comments on renationalisation, now Tory MP Jonathan Gullis has demanded Burnham apologises and retracts his claim that Gullis “demonised” rail workers by calling them “greedy” in an interview over the weekend. Gullis points out that not only did he not use those words… he didn’t do any media this weekend…
In a letter to Burnham sent this afternoon, Gullis explains what really happened:
“This morning you referred to me in interviews on Sky News with Kay Burley and Good Morning Britain, claiming I had been on the media this weekend just gone and that I had said railway workers were being “greedy”. This is completely untrue. Firstly, I did not do any media at the weekend. In fact, I attended the wedding of one of my best friends and then enjoyed the rest of the bank holiday weekend spending quality time with my family. Secondly, I have never used the word “greedy” in any interview regarding strikes on the railways. Had you said I have been very vocally critical of the militant Union barons of the RMT, such as RMT President Alex Gordon, who has pushed Putin’s lies about Ukraine, claiming it is ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’, I would have accepted that. I am therefore asking you to correct the public record immediately and apologise for the entirely false comments you have made about me.”
All in a day’s work. Guido’s approached Burnham’s office for a comment…
UPDATE: A spokesperson for Andy Burnham tells Guido:
“Mr Gullis is good at giving it out but clearly a bit sensitive when the challenge comes back the other way. By reading disputed salary figures out on air and criticising the people taking action he is clearly saying that workers are being too greedy.”
So much for an apology…
UPDATE II: Following Burnham’s spokesperson’s non-apology Gullis confirms to Guido he is now taking legal action. Popcorn at the ready…
Read Gullis’s original letter in full below:
