In an interview with Labour Uncut, Andy Burnham admitted a dark secret: that throughout the 90s he lived in fear that his early-career journalism gigs — from his time working for B2B magazines — would wind their way onto Have I Got News for You. He recently repeated his reason for not going on the programme in an interview with GQ:
‘Have I Got News for You bid for me almost ten times a year and the reason they do it, I am certain, is they have some of my old articles – so I refuse it every time.’
While Mr S can’t vouch for the Beeb, Steerpike has at least managed to track down a copy of one of Burnham’s early journalism efforts; Passenger Rail Management: Vol. 1, Issue 1, from May/June 1993. Although there are no bylines, Andy Burnham is the only staff writer listed in the enthralling magazine.
It offers insight into everything from the Channel Tunnel rail link getting the go-ahead to British industry chiefs uniting behind CrossRail. The staff list in the magazine does also show that Burnham worked with Eleanor Mills, who was then editorial assistant. He later left the publication when he managed to get a job with Mills’ stepmother Tessa Jowell.
While the magazine makes for rather dry reading, perhaps the most enticing article is ‘UK rail privatisation: the debate’, which discusses the pros and cons of rail privatisation. In what could have been some of the initial inspiration for Burnham’s pledge to re-nationalise the railways, it lists the multiple worries the report had over privatisation, such as the franchise system, not having ‘strict service standards and controls over fares’, and that the government must ‘give substance’ to its pledge to fund investment projects which can show a satisfactory cost-benefit return. It concludes that ‘there is still much work to do’.
All in all Burnham need not lose sleep over his brief stint as a journalist (though he would do well to brush up on his dates of work). In fact, Mr S wonders if Burnham is hiding behind the magazines as a reason not to test out his comic credentials on TV. If his bid to be the next Labour leader does fail, Burnham may wish to reconsider the offer.
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