Andy Burnham: How the defender of the NHS cosied up to Big Pharma

Exclusive: A lobbyist with a string of drugs company clients has been appointed by Burnham to help run his Labour leader campaign

Front-runner in the Labour leadership contest and former Health Secretary Andy Burnham has hired lobbyists with connections to major pharmaceutical companies and private healthcare providers to work on his campaign.

Sources working for his rivals said the revelations could hurt his credentials as a defender of the NHS.

A lobbyist who counts a string of drugs companies as clients has been appointed by Andy Burnham to help run his campaign to become Labour’s next leader.

John Lehal, who runs Insight Consulting Group, has taken leave from the company that he set up to become Mr Burnham’s campaign director of his leadership bid.

He is joined on the Burnham campaign team by Katie Myler, a managing director at the lobbying firm Burson-Marsteller, whose clients have recently included HCA international – one of Britain’s leading private healthcare providers..........

I wonder if the British Fluoridation Society are behind him as he was a vice chairman of the organization and started the motion to add the fluoridation to the Water Bill over a decade ago.