‘Taxpayers will want to know why a £700 piece of office furniture ended up as a leaving gift for Andy Burnham’
Andy Burnham made the switch from Mayor to MP to PM – and left office with a unique present (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Andy Burnham’s “leaving present” when he quit as Mayor of Greater Manchester was a chair that had been purchased for £700. The now-Prime Minister did not hide his excitement when presented with the chair which features images of the city and the words: “This is Manchester. We do things differently here.”
Mr Burnham took to social media, telling his former colleagues at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA): “I have loved working with you and will miss you so much. You couldn’t have given me a better leaving present!”
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The chair can be seen in a TikTok video in which Mr Burnham gives a tour of his Number 10 North office, where it sits beneath a gold disc for the The Smiths album The Queen is Dead.
The GMCA disclosed the cost of the chair after a Freedom of Information request, stating: “The chair was a piece of GMCA office furniture that had been purchased previously and was already in use within the offices of GMCA. The cost of the chair when originally purchased was £700.”
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood was not impressed at the costly gift.
He said: “Labour MPs were fighting over who could give their seat up to the new Prime Minister, little did they know he was going to get one at the taxpayers’ expense. The so-called King of the North may have his throne, but for hard-working families nothing will cushion the blow of Labour’s impending tax rises. It’s time Burnham sat up and started focusing on the real issues facing the country.”
Shimeon Lee of the TaxPayers’ Alliance was also concerned, saying: “Taxpayers will want to know why a £700 piece of office furniture ended up as a leaving gift for Andy Burnham. GMCA should explain how the decision was made and why handing over the chair represented better value than any other gift.”
A Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) spokesperson said: “This was a chair already purchased and in use at the GMCA offices, having been refurbished by skilled local upholsters at our Renew Hub. Money raised through the sale of these upcycled items goes back into supporting local charities and community groups in Greater Manchester.”
Sky News halts for major breaking news alert – it’s more bad news for Andy Burnham
The prime minister could be facing a major problem.
Andy Burnham could be set to face a major setback (Image: Getty)
Sky News came to a halt for a major breaking news announcement that could spell trouble for Andy Burnham. Samantha Washington announced that Tata Steel, the UK’s biggest steelmaker, is seeking further government funding as the crisis facing the industry deepens. While the exact figure is currently unknown, the presenter said it could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds. This will be in addition to the £500m grant awarded to the company in 2023 to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) at Port Talbot.
Washington said: “A bit of breaking news to bring you from the world of business. Tata Steel, which is the UK’s biggest steel company, is seeking fresh, renewed government funding. You’ll be aware, if you know anything about this sector, that the industry has been in crisis for some years, given a glut of cheap steel on the market.
She continued: “The owner of Port Talbot in Wales has approached Whitehall for an additional sum which is thought to be hundreds of millions of pounds amid delays to its new electric arc furnace, which was part of the deal that it would be moving more to more environmentally friendly means of steel production.
“We don’t know exactly the number that it has asked for, but we understand that it could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds.”
The Sky News host added: “Meanwhile, the fate of Port Talbot and the jobs, around 5,000 jobs in the UK, still remain in a little bit of a precarious position.”
The £500 million in government funding formed part of a £1.25 billion investment in the site, with the new EAF originally expected to be operational by early 2028.
However, delays mean the new EAF will likely not be up and running until late 2028 or early 2029.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has reportedly been briefed on the approach from Tata Steel.
The prospect of further public money being used to support Tata Steel is likely to raise questions over the industrial priorities of Burnham’s government.
One month after Burnham took office, he visited Tata steelworks in Port Talbot, marking his first official trip to Wales as prime minister.
He met workers, apprentices and senior executives and said he would bring together the leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland this autumn for a summit aimed at boosting the UK economy.