Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he told Donald Trump "Manchester isn't some town" ahead of the pair's first meeting today. Mr Burnham's first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump will take place in the margins of the UN gathering, before he addresses the UN General Assembly in New York, where he will insist the UK is not "on the slide" and attempt to draw a line under 10 years of post-Brexit turbulence.
Diplomatic challenge
The Ministry of Defence has stepped up co-operation with American counterparts on the next generation of drones and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Mr Burnham's previous criticism of the president and Mr Trump's unpredictability, recent comments about Irish unification and hostility to UK immigration and clean energy policies make it a diplomatically awkward challenge for the Prime Minister.
Mr Burnham said he could "trust" the US president and the special relationship was as strong as ever. He said: "When you come into this job, you realise how deep this relationship is. We trust our allies. Of course, we do." Asked if he trusted Mr Trump personally, the Prime Minister replied: "Yes."
Past criticism and first phone call
Mr Burnham has been critical of the US president in the past, including saying – as rioters stormed the US Capitol in 2021 – that "any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now". Before their first conversation, Mr Trump had suggested he knew little about Mr Burnham beyond that he was "very liberal" and the mayor of a "town".
Mr Burnham told journalists: "Politicians say things throughout their career, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in, and I did say to the president in our first phone call, I said Mr President, Manchester isn't 'some town'. I said 'this is Manchester'. And so yes, the right thing to do is to have a laugh about it, isn't it, and move beyond it."
UN debut and domestic priorities
Today will also see Mr Burnham make his United Nations debut as Prime Minister. He will say he has a "really upbeat message" about the UK, although he acknowledged there were long-term issues which needed to be addressed to improve living standards. The Prime Minister's trip to New York comes ahead of the Labour Party conference later this month, a crucial first Budget of his premiership in October and the unveiling of his 10-year plan for the country.
He told reporters accompanying him on the visit: "The plan for Britain is about 'what is our direction over the next 10 years and how do we make life more affordable for people'. That is my main priority, that's what people are looking for. I hear people saying the country is on the slide – we're the fastest growing in the G7, there's lots to be proud of, there's a lot right with the country and I'm going to give a really upbeat message when I speak."
Mr Burnham said "we can be hopeful about where we're going, we can draw a line under the last decade and say this next one's going to be different". He said the cost-of-living crisis was "the biggest issue of our times" but, while there were some things that can "realistically be done to provide short-term help", there were also "long-term structural changes" needed to make life more affordable. He said he wanted to offer hope "because people are feeling 'where is my ability to have a holiday?' or 'go on a night out, have a few beers'."
Middle East crisis and AI focus
Mr Burnham, who has authorised a British military operation for the first time by deploying defensive air-to-air refuelling for Saudi Arabian planes responding to Houthi missile attacks, said he would be discussing the Middle East crisis triggered by the US strikes in Iran with Mr Trump. He said: "The message is that we want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part."
Mr Burnham, who is being accompanied on his transatlantic trip by wife Marie-France van Heel, will also use his first UN General Assembly speech to focus on AI's risks and opportunities. The development of frontier models is being dominated by firms in the US and China, with concerns raised by experts that the breakneck pace of progress is coming at the expense of safety.
Mr Burnham is seeking to position the UK as an "honest broker" in bringing countries together to address the issue, comparing his role to that played by Gordon Brown in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. He said recent warnings from AI experts about the risks it could pose to humanity "made me pause" but "I had already decided, though, to make a step change on AI when I came into the role". "I will be focusing on AI as a force for good, because it can be and it's really important to keep that," he said.
