Last week, independent investigative journalist Sonia Poulton presented an excellent investigation into Andrew Murray Burnham. Known as 'Andy', Burnham is a past MP and has been Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. A member of the Labour Uni/Party his parliamentary career provided him with several cabinet positions alongside Milliband, Corbyn and of course, Blair. Most recently he was Secretary of State for Health from in 2010. The UK is undergoing a managed demolition and Sonia's time is understandably limited, so for UK and Kiwi readers, I'd like to add some additional info about Burnham's conflicts of interest here.
Andy 'The Brand' Burnham
Sonia's subtitle to her video "The Next Prime Minister?" is relevant here, because as many of my readers and colleagues know, there is some strategic movement in UK politics at the moment. The role of impact investor Legatum, that I have written about extensively, and spoken to Sonia about at length is not insignificant. These are the funders of new conservativism Reform and its PR machinery, and as Michael Ginsburg points out, Topher's Aussie Wire, now rebranded Vox Populi. After the unusual resignation of the incumbent for Makerfield, Burnham in particular has positioned himself in a By Election, which if secured, is widely expected to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer, as he states:
"...becoming an MP would be the "first stage" in his fight to change Labour and the country. I will take that fight as high as I can take that fight, because I think the country does need to change." [source]
But alongside 'becoming an MP (again)' Burnham would need to declare his current conflicts of interest. Sonia's excellent analysis, which I highly recommend, explains decades of Burnham's various political roles and controversial behaviours. His Wikipedia page (as Sonia also noted) is impeccably kept, regularly updated and convincingly positive in tone. This, alongside his frequent [cringeworthy] advertorials in the local rag, slick promo 'shorts', cartoons and memes on his social media posts claim:
‘He’s a natural’: Andy Burnham’s allies give his social media style a thumbs-up - Labour MPs and PR experts praise his refreshingly forthright approach that is a marked contrast to Keir Starmer. [source - my emphasis]
But rather than genuine grass-roots popularism, are these clever brand tactics (with those crucial promoting algorithms) more likely just another professional PR machine in action? We know political funders all too often supply well-oiled campaign wheels too....enter Burnham's wife:
Marie-France Van Heel
Marie-France joined the Board of Plan Intl in March 2023. She is an experienced marketing director and strategic branding consultant with a passion for ideas that drive positive change. She was previously the Chief Strategy Officer at branding consultancy Heavenly before leaving to follow her passion for sustainability and the green economy. Marie-France is now the Chief Customer Officer for the Octopus Energy Generation backed electric vehicle charging company Be.EV. She is also on the Be.EV board of directors.
Plan International is a very wealthy global children’s charity with a charitable purpose of 'advancing equality for girls and a just world for all'. But maybe the Burnhams don't believe that 'just world' includes revealing their own investment portfolios and conflicts of interest? Plan Intl's total income includes £281,436 from 3 government contracts and >£3 million from government grants. It's global partners include the UN, The World Bank, The European Commission and various African Governments. That is no surprise.
As the explanation from Plan Intl above helpfully points out, Van Heel is a brand consultant and was previously in senior management at Heavenly. Heavenly's clients extend to every sector, from academia (controlling the 'Green' narrative) to real estate, and of course legacy media empires such as Sky, OSN, Star TV, Discovery, ESPN, NBC Universal, Time Warner, Fandom, CBS, BBC Worldwide...
Heavenly brands also include those familiar philanthropathic entities like Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie. In fact, Van Heel (or 'Frankie' as she is known to her friends) has a personal involvement with Marie Curie, not only as a fund-raiser, but also, tragically in 2010 as a 'proactive' worried-well breast cancer surgery patient.
But it's the current roles of Van Heel I'm analysing here. In February 2022 The Guardian predictably published an article trying to deflect Burnham's inherent conflicts of interest when complaints were raised by opponents of the 15-minute 'Smart' 'Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone' or 'CAZ':
Van Heel [wa]s the strategy director and managing partner of a small marketing and brand agency, Heavenly. One of her clients is Be.EV, which has a contract with Transport for Greater Manchester to maintain and grow the region’s electric vehicle charging network. (source)
But contrary to The Guardian, Heavenly was not a 'small marketing brand agency' - it was global. Later that same year, in a classic example of the revolving doors of power in Public Private Philanthropathic Partnerships (PPPPs), Van Heel took a senior management and shareholder role at her previous client Be.EV. Then in October 2022, Be.EV (registered in the UK as Iduna Infrastructure Ltd) after obtaining some public funding, received a 'considerable investment' from Octopus Energy of (wait for it) £110 Million which also become a major shareholder (source). Little surprise then, that Be.EV continues to extend its 'Smart City' reach with AI facial recognition cameras and other surveillance interventions throughout Manchester, apparently without any hurdles:
Clean Air Greater Manchester claims to 'own' the data for air quality for Greater Manchester. It is a collaboration between the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). More on TgGM in a moment.
Did Mayor Burnham declare to his electorate this change of his wife's financial circumstances? What other Burnham family changes occurred? Did The Guardian publish any follow-up to its story, that could enlighten citizens voting for Burnham or Labour? I think you know the answers...
Who or what is Octopus Energy?
The owner of Be.EV, Octopus Energy Generation is a WEF-Partner, a multi-sector entity operating at least 10 businesses in 18 countries across 4 continents. Their website claims to
"serve more than 7.2 million customers, over 40,000 business customers, with over 50 million contracted accounts for our entech (?) platform, Kraken."
Octopus' skyrocketing success in only a few years is understandable when we know they use the Behavioural Insight Teams ('Nudge Unit' tactics, which I explain in detail here). And Octopus quotes so many familiar names as its 'partner investors': Origin Energy (Australia's largest energy provider), Tokyo Gas (the most established and successful utilities in Japan); Generation (an ESG entity, co-founded by Al Gore) and CIPPB the Global Pension Fund managing c.$500b of funds contributed and held by the Canadian Pension Plan. Nuff said?
Kraken - one significant tentacle of the global Octopus empire - is an AI-powered BigTech metadata operating system that 'manages' energy and water use. I don't think it takes much imagination to figure-out what its objectives are. Surveillance, installation and monitoring of 'Smart' meters, 5G towers and more. The ability to control your own water and energy use (whatever provider you use) will be 'for your own safety'. This is especially relevant with the forthcoming fuel crisis. In conjunction with the universities and the Nudge Units, Octopus also has it's own ways to control the narrative, with an in-house Research Centre for Net Zero, which Van Heel's company can rely upon for helpful 'consistent messaging' to accelerate their joint Green Transition:
As you can see above, it will be of no surprise either that Octopus' own 'Centre for Net Zero' is headed-up by an ex-Tony Blair Inst for Global Change common-purpose agent Lucy Yu. She is also involved with various AI entities.
It is interesting to note that Octopus Renewables EV company that is part of the enormous Octopus Energy Generation Fund Management Holdings Limited, started life as a healthcare investment advisor called MedicX, changing to Octopus Healthcare in 2014 before losing it's 'healthcare' name altogether:
In 2020, Amey Ltd - another one of Van Heel's clients at Heavenly and owned by a spin-off from JP Morgan, was awarded the TfGM contract to supply the new EV charging infrastructure. Amey is "a global, integrated infrastructure consultancy and operations partner, designing, delivering, protecting, and maintaining critical assets and systems (including the military)." There are questions remaining about the differences between the public and private charging stations in their charging speeds and fees - but that topic is for another day. The close relationship between these companies, their shareholders and their partnerships with Government and the military, raises more important questions about the control grid of essential water and energy services:
UK Companies House reveals Amey Ltd to be an equally dark entity to Octopus. I wonder what the plans are for Van Heel if/when her husband gets into the 'top job'? No doubt any declarations of conflicts of interest will be swept under that tatty Parliamentary carpet, along with all the empty promises.
In conclusion, hopefully I have helped in this article to confirm that no-one is going to save us - least of all any politician. Whether here in New Zealand, back in my home country, in Australia or elsewhere, these politicians are all captured - actors in a theatrical performance. They are, as I have demonstrated before, all funded by the globalists and all part of the same plans for forcing us into a technocracy. It really is time to step away from these corrupt people.
Ursula Edgington
What will happen in Manchester this month, and the UK more widely later this year? Who knows. But it's down to us citizens to take back control. No doubt of that.