Sir Keir Starmer has warned his likely successor Andy Burnham that it will not be possible to spend less time focusing on international affairs. In his first sit-down interview since announcing his resignation, the Prime Minister also spoke of his "intensely personal" decision to quit.
Accusations of Neglecting Domestic Issues
Throughout his premiership, Sir Keir has faced accusations of spending too much time on the world stage instead of domestic affairs, with his opponents branding him "never here Keir". Mr Burnham, his likely successor in Downing Street, has largely focused on domestic issues as he sets out his stall to be the next prime minister.
But Sir Keir warned that Mr Burnham will not be able to spend less time grappling with the turmoil around the world than he has. He told the BBC: "If you're prime minister and you care what bills are going to be like in any household around the country, you have to care about finding a lasting solution to the situation in Ukraine, you have to care about what happens in the Strait of Hormuz. It's not sensible to think you can just separate these two things out."
Starmer's Personal Decision to Resign
Asked if he believed it was possible for his successor to spend less time on diplomacy, Sir Keir said: "No, I don't think it is possible. So this suggestion you can really, in the modern era, simply split up the international and domestic, is just… it just doesn't make sense. It isn't true. It isn't right."
Sir Keir also spoke about how he came to the decision to resign, after spending a weekend with his family at Chequers, the grace-and-favour Buckinghamshire country estate available to all prime ministers. He said: "For me, and this may be different for other people, in the end it became an intensely personal decision, and that's why it was a decision taken ultimately when Vic and I were away with the kids, we went to Chequers and just spent two days together as a family, and that's when I came to my final decision."
Burnham's Foreign Policy Stance
Mr Burnham earlier gave some indication of how he might govern in the realm of foreign policy as he took part in an "Ask Me Anything" on forum website Reddit. The Makerfield MP said he would "100%" give the same level of support to Ukraine as Sir Keir had, and suggested he wanted to continue with the outgoing Prime Minister's efforts to broker a closer relationship with the EU.
No Early General Election
Elsewhere in the hour-long online question and answer session, Mr Burnham ruled out calling an early general election. "No. As I said in my speech on Monday, I'm going to work to the 2024 manifesto," he said in response to a question about an early election. He similarly suggested he would stick to the 2024 Labour manifesto when asked about whether he would scrap the pensions triple lock, which protects the rate at which the state pension rises.
Electoral Reform and Criticism from Badenoch
Elsewhere, Mr Burnham suggested he wanted to advocate for electoral reform as part of Labour's next manifesto. Mr Burnham has previously expressed an interest in a form of proportional representation to replace the current first-past-the-post voting system. On Reddit he said electoral reform would "enable the change to a more collaborative politics, and one that is less about point-scoring and more about problem-solving". He added: "I will seek to persuade my own party of the need for a manifesto commitment to it in the next manifesto."
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Mr Burnham for avoiding questions from journalists since his by-election victory. He gave his first interview since winning in Makerfield to LBC on Thursday, after denying journalists a chance to ask questions at a press conference earlier in the week. Mrs Badenoch also posted a question on Reddit, telling her opponent: "You're going to be prime minister soon so it's time to start acting like one. Come out from hiding, face a proper press conference and submit yourself to scrutiny and some tough questions. Are you up for it?" Mr Burnham responded: "Fair challenge, Kemi – but don't forget it's only two weeks since I faced questions from 74,000 members of the public in Makerfield."
