Andy Burnham ‘not embarrassed’ by exchange with Trump aide impersonator

London — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham affirmed on Tuesday that he managed a conversation with a person pretending to be Donald Trump's chief of staff in the correct manner. He informed reporters he is not ashamed by the event, emphasizing that "nothing of consequence" was discussed. Politico initially reported on Monday that the U.K. prime minister had corresponded with messages from someone assuming the identity of Susie Wiles, a senior adviser to the U.S. president.

The prominent aide has previously experienced a phone breach, though the White House stated the two incidents were unrelated. "All politicians face these pressures and challenges, but I did everything right," Burnham stated during a visit to Wolverhampton. "There was a minimal exchange of information of zero consequence, and it was promptly reported," he added.

"I recognized that this required reporting, and I did so. So I handled it in the right way," he also said. This incident has sparked concerns about possible national security weaknesses in the communications of high-ranking politicians. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting was among three Cabinet ministers whose numbers were discovered online by Politico on Monday.

Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary called for an investigation into the Burnham message exchange on Tuesday, describing it as a "dangerous security breach" in a letter to the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee. He wrote, "This is an unacceptable breach. The security of the Prime Minister's communications should be the top priority, yet it seems, in this case, that routine measures to guard against these kinds of breaches were not followed."

Burnham did not disclose whether the government intended to alter procedures in response to the impersonation, but affirmed that "the appropriate action has been taken here and in the U.S."