Prime Minister Andy Burnham heads to New York on Monday for the United Nations General Assembly, his first foray into global diplomacy and a test of his vow to press British interests even if they are at odds with US President Donald Trump.
Burnham, a former mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England with limited experience of foreign affairs, is expected to meet Trump for the first time on Tuesday, and has set out a different approach to his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who went out of his way to win over the US leader.
Instead, Burnham has said he will disagree with Trump if it is in his nation’s interest, while describing himself in his first interview after becoming Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade in July as someone “who tries to work with people”.
At a meeting of world leaders due to focus on Ukraine, West Asia, climate action and AI, Burnham will hope to double down on his call in Kyiv last month for more air defence support to protect the nation from Russia’s bombardment in its more than four-year war, including the delivery of US Patriot systems.
Two leaders should get on, says former ambassador
Kim Darroch, a former UK ambassador to Washington, said he believed Trump would want the meeting with Burnham to go well after falling out with other leaders, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“I think he’ll (Trump) want this meeting to go well, but even so, there will be unpredictability attached to it,” Darroch told Sky News on Sunday.
“But Burnham, I think, is personable. He has charisma. He’s sort of instantly likeable. I suspect they’ll sort of hit it off because Trump cares much more about personal chemistry than about ideological divides.”
Burnham has had at least two calls with Trump since becoming prime minister on Jul 20, describing the exchanges as warm and cordial, with his team pointing out that the US leader did not push back against Britain’s move to block imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In a shift from Starmer’s more cautious approach, Burnham said at the time the move was a way to assert British values: “It is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.”
Twelve nations signed the statement saying they would introduce, or were considering introducing, a ban on goods from settlements, the strongest collective action taken by Western countries against Israel’s moves into the West Bank. Israel rejects the assertion that the settlements are illegal.
The coordinated action could signal a meeting of minds between Burnham and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who last week attended a match of their favourite English football team, Everton. Sitting side by side, the two celebrated and hugged when Everton scored the winner against Wolves.
Carney has argued for closer cooperation among so-called “middle powers”, arguing that countries such as Canada should work together to protect their interests in a world increasingly shaped by great-power rivalry and US protectionism.
Special Relationship
But Burnham will not want to antagonise Trump, his team says, and will be happy to find areas to maintain the so-called “special relationship” with the United States by making “pragmatic decisions in the best interests of the country”.
With Washington pushing NATO countries to do more to support the alliance, Burnham has said he wants to increase defence spending and investment to create home-grown jobs, but has so far said little about when and how he will do so.
His finance minister, John Healey, will present a budget on Oct 28, when he will want to set out how to fill a funding hole in Britain’s Defence Investment Plan rather than setting out longer-term goals for defence spending.
But several leaders in the defence industry have voiced concerns about the government’s commitment after Burnham said earlier this month his ministers would “do everything to support national security, but it can’t come at the expense of social security”.
