New pictures that leave minister over-exposed

A member of the Cabinet was under renewed pressure last night over the true extent of his involvement in a faked photo row. James Purnell has always denied any knowledge of a decision to doctor a photograph that appeared to show him in a group shot with fellow MPs at an official function. The Culture Secretary had appeared late for the event at Tameside General Hospital, in Greater Manchester, and missed the official photo opportunity with the other politicians – only to subsequently appear in group press photographs of the ceremony. But emails obtained by The Sunday Telegraph reveal how the hospital sent official messages to Mr Purnell, a local MP, to inform him in advance about a plan to "mock up" the group pictures by "dropping" him into them. Mr Purnell had his photograph taken separately after arriving late at the hospital, in the same spot as his fellow MPs, which was then digitally added to the picture of them.
This newspaper has also obtained the full set of separate photographs that show how the official press pictures were eventually "mocked up" to include him. Two messages were sent to his email address, following the event on July 20, explaining to him the "dropping in" plans and even including a copy of the doctored photograph. Last night, opposition MPs, who have previously called for the minister's resignation, said the new emails and photographs undermined his previous denials. It is a humiliation for Mr Purnell, who has criticised television companies for faking footage. In an email dated July 24 and sent to Mr Purnell, Christine Green, the chief executive of Tameside Hospital, said: "Dear James, Thank you for attending on Friday. I am pleased we were able to catch the photographer so that he could 'drop you into the photographs'." She then emailed him a copy of the doctored photograph on September 17 which had been held back until the announcement of funding for a new development at the hospital, the original reason for the MPs' event. She wrote: "Dear James, I enclose three photographs… which you may wish to use. Figure 1 with 6 people outside is the one being used for the press coverage." Both emails were sent to the Minister's parliamentary email address, while the other MPs in the photo call had also been warned the final version would include Mr Purnell.
A row blew up just days later, on September 28, over the event after a group photograph appeared in the local press and on regional television news. Within hours, Tom Levitt, a fellow local Labour MP, for High Peak, wrote to Green: "Are you aware that BBC Look North are running a story tonight. They have deduced that James P was pasted into that photo you issued about the investment. "I have told The Glossop Chronicle off the record that yes we were all there that morning but as I had to leave the photograph to attend a funeral we missed by 5 minutes only the chance of taking a photo with us all together; that we knew what was happening and that you were completely open with us; and that there was no intention to deceive or purpose in doing so." The Sunday Telegraph has also obtained the original photographs which indicate that Mr Purnell was posed in such a way so the photographs could be merged. Ben Granger, communications officer at the hospital, emailed a photographic specialist asking for an extra figure to be added to a series of photos. The company point out that "the tight spacing and different zooms make it slightly challenging for us to add convincingly - but we'll do our best". Mr Purnell, 37, said last month: "I didn't think a faked photo would be produced and I didn't see this photo before it went out, and if I had done wouldn't have agreed to it". Two weeks earlier, in a speech to the Royal Television Society, Mr Purnell said: "In both politics and television you devalue the only currency you have if you forfeit the trust of the public." Yesterday Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat culture spokesman said: "He should issue an apology and provide a full explanation. He is guilty of failing to put the record straight when he knew something had gone wrong." Last night Lisa Tremble, the Minister's special advisor claimed the emails had not been read by Mr Purnell and had been lost in the system. She said they were subsequently retrieved from the hospital after the row broke. She said: "The email address was the general constituency office email. "This is the practice in many MPs constituency offices. James did not see either of these emails or the photo before the story broke on Friday 28th Sept and the constituency office did not reply to either of these emails." She released a new statement on behalf of Mr Purnell, in which he said: "I did not ask for my photograph to be used in this way, nor did I authorise it. I assumed that it would be clear that the photograph of me had been taken separately. These emails did not ask for my authorisation of the photo."

A sideburned schmoozer and Blairite survivor

James Purnell is the youngest member of the Cabinet and one of the few ardent Blairites to have been promoted by Gordon Brown. A graduate of Balliol College, Oxford, who first worked for Tony Blair as a student, he cut his teeth as a media policy specialist at New Labour's favourite think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research. Mr Purnell went on to become the BBC's head of corporate planning and a Downing Street adviser. Described by one parliamentary source as "a sideburned schmoozer" with a "constant smirk", he is regarded as the ultimate networker and is one of a handful of senior politicians to use the networking website Facebook, where he has 117 "friends" including a host of political journalists. The 37-year-old is tipped as a future Labour Party leader, and is a close friend of Andy Burnham, who was made Chief Secretary to the Treasury in June. The pair are seen by some as having the same kind of relationship as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had in the early days of the New Labour revolution.

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