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Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, criticized the Conservative Party for distributing water bottles at their conference in Birmingham that feature a cartoon image of Andy Burnham labeled as "Bottler Burnham." The illustrator Stanley Chow claims his copyright has been infringed upon by the Tories' use of this image. Chow states he will seek legal advice and describes the Tories’ actions as “shameful.”
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell has criticized the Conservative Party for using a cartoon image of Andy Burnham on water bottles given out at their conference in Birmingham. The image, which depicts Burnham as a "bottler," originally was created by illustrator Stanley Chow during Burnham's time as Greater Manchester mayor. Powell alleged that the Tories used the image without obtaining proper copyright clearance from Chow, who has since stated he will seek legal advice and called the use of his work "shameful." The Conservative Party merchandise also mocks other political rivals, including labeling the bottles as "0 per cent strength" and attributing them to being "bottled under pressure from Badenoch," a reference to minister Wendy Morton.
Written for “Labour Complaints About Tories Mercha…” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning: leans left for article 57083 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-05
Claims extracted
21
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
10%
2 of 21 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
64.9
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Andy Burnham's deputy has moaned about the Tories using cartoon-style images of the 'bottler' Prime Minister on their party conference merchandise.
asserted
Tories → moan → merchandise
Attendees of the Conservative gathering in Birmingham have been handed 'Bottler Burnham' water bottles along with other free goodies mocking their political rivals.
asserted
Attendees → hand → rivals
The bottles claim to be '0 per cent strength' and are described as being 'bottled under pressure from Badenoch'.
But Lucy Powell, Labour's deputy leader, complained that the image used on the bottle label infringes the copyright of illustrator Stanley Chow.
uncertain
image → claim → Chow
She posted on social media site X that the bottles had been created 'without having the copyright to re-produce @stan_chow image'.
asserted
bottles → post → image
Mr Chow himself revealed he would be 'seeking legal advice', with the Manchester-based artist hitting out at the Tories' 'shameful' use of his image.
asserted
artist → reveal → image
Attendees of the Conservative conference in Birmingham have been handed 'Bottler Burnham' water bottles along with other free goodies mocking their political rivals
Lucy Powell, Labour's deputy leader, complained that the image used on the bottle label infringes the copyright of illustrator Stanley Chow
The image of Mr Burnham was first created by Mr Chow during the now-PM's time as Greater Manchester mayor.
asserted
image → hand → mayor
He has previously spoken of being inspired to create the image when Mr Burnham was in a row with Boris Johnson's government over Covid restrictions in late 2020.
asserted
Burnham → speak → 2020
The artwork was used by Labour during Mr Burnham's successful Makerfield by-election campaign earlier this year.
asserted
artwork → use → campaign
During that contest, Reform UK deleted some of its campaign material featuring Mr Chow's image after he threatened legal action over its use by Nigel Farage's party.
asserted
he → delete → party
Mr Chow updated the image to depict Mr Burnham in a suit outside 10 Downing Street to mark his first day as PM in July.
asserted
Chow → update → July
Commenting on the Tories' use of the image, he posted on Instagram: 'It seems like @Conservatives have been using my artwork without my permission at their conference party.
'Regardless of whatever your political allegiances are, it's still copyright infringement...
asserted
it → comment → party
I'll be seeking legal advice.'
asserted
I → seek → advice
Mr Chow also told the Manchester Evening News: 'They should have known and done their due diligence really before stealing someone's image and using it for something as childish as what they have done.
asserted
they → tell → what
I'm going to take legal advice and see what they say, and we will go from there basically.'
asserted
we → go → what
He added he had previously licensed the image to the Labour Party and 'it was okay for them' to use it.
asserted
them → add → it
'Some artists are too scared to come for the people who've done it, they don't know where to go,' he continued.
asserted
he → come → it
'Going to find a lawyer is expensive.
asserted
Going → go → lawyer
It's a case of calling the Tory party out.
asserted
It → call → party
It's making people aware that what they've done is wrong.'
asserted
done → make → what
Among the other goodies handed out to Tory conference delegates in Birmingham is a mocked-up letter to Mr Farage warning it 'contains funny money' in reference to the Reform UK leader's donations row.
asserted
it → hand → row
A Tory official said: 'Burnham may flash his lashes at Labour conference, but the Tories are chowing down on the real meat: honesty about the problems facing Britain and The Right Way to solve them.'
uncertain
Tories → say → them
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