A Downing Street speechwriter was seen using an online chatbot to help prepare a keynote address for Prime Minister Andy Burnham while travelling by train and drinking prosecco.
The aide was working on the 17.03 service from London Euston to Holyhead on Friday, ahead of Mr Burnham’s speech to Welsh Labour members in Llandudno the following day.
The adviser was observed asking the chatbot to make parts of the Prime Minister’s remarks more “emotive”, including a section attacking Margaret Thatcher’s legacy and references to the cost-of-living crisis.
In the speech, Mr Burnham said Thatcher’s premiership had “shattered the way of life for communities up and down Britain”, referring to mines and factories closing and steelworks falling silent.
He also spoke of “the working men’s clubs, the sports teams, the choirs, the trade unions” and said: “People came together, looked out for each other.”
The chatbot recommended a passage about working men’s clubs, choirs and other social institutions lost as Britain moved away from its industrial base. The delivered speech also included Mr Burnham’s declaration: “Cost of living is the top issue here in Wales, as it is in all parts of the UK.”
Lee Anderson, the Reform UK chairman, criticised the episode. He said: “It must be thirsty work writing speeches for Burnham.
“His bubbly-drinking socialists have no plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. AI Andy’s man-of-the-people act has been exposed as a sham.
“He’s an artificial prime minister who doesn’t have the faintest clue what he believes or what he’s doing.”
The incident came as Mr Burnham faced Labour opposition to welfare reforms intended to help young people move from benefits into work. He is due to address Labour MPs on Tuesday in support of changes being led by former Cabinet minister Alan Milburn.
Mr Milburn is expected to set out plans for billions of pounds of upfront investment to help 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training find jobs, alongside reductions in benefits.
The Prime Minister also used his Welsh Labour speech to announce that BT, Marks and Spencer and Home Bargains would join a workplace savings scheme, under which employees automatically put part of their pay into savings each month.
Downing Street said: “The PM writes most of his own speeches and this one was no exception.”
