Ex-minister Tulip Siddiq slams Burnham's reshuffle, citing unfair sackings of competent staff

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has come under fire from a former Labour minister following a sweeping overhaul of government personnel.

Burnham officially took office last Monday and has since moved to remove most of Keir Starmer's allies from positions of power. This week, the Prime Minister announced the full list of new Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS) — MPs who act as a link between government and backbench MPs — assigned to each department.

Labour's new chief whip has pledged that these junior roles will be strengthened under Burnham, with expanded responsibilities. According to Anneliese Midgeley, the appointments were made in consultation with cabinet ministers.

Criticism from the Backbenches

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq was quick to criticise the scale of changes among backbenchers.

The former anti-corruption minister — who has not held a government role for more than a year — wrote on X:

"It's been extremely frustrating to see so many competent people unceremoniously sacked from government. This latest list showing sacked PPS' makes me despair in particular because PPS-ing is not a glamorous job and so many of these MPs just got on with it, put in the hours and would have been an asset to any Labour government."

Referring to Abena Oppong-Asare, who served as PPS for No. 10, Siddiq added:

"Not to mention that the first Black woman ever to be PPS to a prime minister was removed. (Happy to be corrected if she wasn't the first but my point stands either way)."

The government has been approached for comment.

Background on Tulip Siddiq

Siddiq resigned as anti-corruption minister in Starmer's government in January 2025. She has faced scrutiny over her links to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh accused of corruption.

In December, Bangladesh convicted Siddiq in absentia, sentencing her to two years in prison and imposing a fine over corruption allegations. She was found guilty of influencing her aunt regarding a plot of land in Bangladesh.

The Labour backbencher told the BBC in December she was "absolutely baffled by the whole thing," rejecting the "malicious allegations" and insisting the process had been "flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end."

Siddiq also told HuffPost UK that in two years of accusations, Bangladesh has still never contacted her, despite her having written eight times.

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