Andy Burnham

Andy Burnham is MP for Leigh, a safe Labour seat in northern England. In January 2008, he became the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

After the May 2005 general election, Burnham was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary to junior minister Tony McNulty MP, with particular responsibility for :
 * ID cards and passports
 * The Forensic Science Service
 * Refugee integration
 * E borders
 * Extradition and judicial cooperation
 * The Criminal Records Bureau

Burnham is married to Marie-France Van Heel, former head of marketing at MTV, BSkyB and Littlewoods Gaming.

Burnham and ID cards: "People don't have a right to anonymity"
Burnham has been a vocal supporter of biometric national ID cards since at least February 2003, when in a letter to The Guardian he stated that "the supposed dangers [of ID cards] are overplayed. The civil liberties lobby has been allowed to hold sway in this debate for too long. Even Guardian readers like me have changed their mind." 

And according to a contemporaneous posting by blogger Chris Lightfoot, Burnham stated on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on May 24, 2003 that "People don't have a right to anonymity. The State has a right to know who people are." 

SourceWatch resources

 * Identity Cards Bill (UK 2004/5)
 * Katherine Courtney
 * UK National Identity Cards Scheme
 * Jennifer Gerber - special advisor
 * Progress

Profiles

 * Profile of Andy Burnham at theyworkforyou.com
 * Constituency profile of Leigh, The Times, General Election 2005 coverage.

Letters by Andy Burnham

 * "ID check", The Guardian, February 18, 2003.
 * "Maglev link", The Guardian, February 23, 2005.

Articles

 * Michael White, "Labour likely to impose shortlist in safe seat", The Guardian, February 22, 2001.
 * Michael White and Kevin Maguire, "Door knocking in home town wins Labour insider seat nomination", The Guardian, March 22, 2001.
 * Chris Lightfoot, "... and go where I damn well please", Chris Lightfoot's web log, May 24, 2003. Notes an appearance by Burnham on the Today programme.
 * Matthew Norman, "Diary", The Guardian, June 10, 2003.
 * "Charles Clarke welcomes new ministerial team", Home Office press release via egovmonitor.com, 11 May, 2005.
 * Steve Ranger, "Meet the politicians in charge of government IT", silicon.com, May 13, 2005.
 * "James Purnell – a Gollum of New Labour", newlabourunplugged blog, May 23, 2005.
 * John Leyden, "ID cards technology is ready, says UK minister", The Register, May 26, 2005.