MANAGING US PRESIDENT TRUMP
Mr Starmer gained a status as a “Trump whisperer” within the early days after Donald Trump returned to the White Home for his second time period as US president in January 2025.
However ties have hit a rocky patch regardless of makes an attempt to woo the mercurial US chief.
Regardless of the much-vaunted “particular relationship” between the US and Britain, Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the Labour authorities over defence spending, its reluctance to completely endorse US strikes on Iran and the way forward for the strategically essential Chagos Islands, residence to a joint UK-US army base.
Whether or not Mr Trump will heat to Mr Burnham stays unclear.
Requested just lately concerning the former mayor of Manchester, the US chief stated he didn’t know him properly.
“I feel he was the mayor of a metropolis. I’ve heard he is very liberal,” Mr Trump stated.
For his half, throughout his by-election marketing campaign, Mr Burnham warned voters that Britain risked drifting in the direction of the “polarised, toxic politics” of the US, the place “individuals in communities do not work collectively any extra”.
However he additionally wrote in The Occasions: “Our relationship with the US will stay vital as our most essential defence and safety ally.”
He instructed former footballer Gary Lineker on his podcast that though he had not but spoken to Mr Trump, he would cope with him in an “upfront” method.
“It is about respecting the workplace… the US-UK relationship, however the place you disagree … do it in a means that’s sort of assembly him the place’s he is at.”
RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
Assist for Ukraine stays one of many uncommon points which enjoys near-unanimous cross-party backing throughout British politics.
Mr Burnham has vowed to take care of the robust backing for Kyiv begun underneath former Conservative premier Boris Johnson following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“British assist for Ukraine is not going to falter,” he wrote in The Occasions in early July.
Like Mr Starmer, he sees that dedication as intently linked to Britain’s position inside NATO.
“Our dedication to NATO and the British nuclear deterrent functionality will stay absolute,” he stated.
