Red Faced
The Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that a senior MP and former health secretary in the last Labour Government - Andy Burnham - made a bit of a fool of himself over the arrangements next week for Margaret Thatcher's funeral.
Now it had already been announced that the funeral had been given an official name - "Operation True Blue" - but for some reason this irritated Andy Burnham who accused the organisers in Downing Street of politicising the event.
Only to be informed that the codename had - in fact - been created by the last Labour Government.
How embarrasssing - but you have to ask what possessed such an experienced MP to behave in this petty way?
Perhaps he was just playing to the gallery when he said on Twitter:
"This is a difficult moment for many, particularly in the North, and the 'grown-up' thing to do is avoid any hint of politicisation."
In any event, Mr Burnham's inquiry about the appropriatenesss of using the tag "Operation True Blue" for a state occasion - ended up with him looking terribly silly and ill-informed.
As officials in Whitehall explained that the codename had been used since the funeral plans were first drafted - many years ago - under Labour.
Apparently the "True Blue Committee" has been having planning meetings since at least 2006.
