PM says he will stand up to Trump ‘if right for Britain’

Andy Burnham says he will publicly disagree with Donald Trump, if it meant defending Britain’s interests “before anything else”.

The new Prime Minister and US President spoke over the phone on Monday, within an hour of Burnham arriving in Downing Street.

“I can’t at any point say that I won’t take a different opinion from him [Donald Trump], that I will need to voice a different idea that is right for Britain.

“You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly,” he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

After the call, Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that Burnham “has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it” and pledged that the US “will be there to help”.

Downing Street described the 20-minute conversation as “extremely warm”.

It comes after relations between Washington and Sir Keir Starmer’s government became increasingly fractious over the Iran conflict.

Burnham also ruled out an early general election in his first major interview, saying Britain had “voted for a manifesto” in 2024.

“There’s no early general election. I don’t think people want it,” he said.

He added: “I just think what I most need to do is get Britain focused on getting the country back where it should be.”

Defence policy remained a key issue during the interview, with the PM also refusing to be drawn on a timetable for increasing spending to three per cent of GDP.

Burnham said he was “very aware” of Chancellor John Healey’s position and resignation as Sir Keir’s defence secretary following disagreements over the issue.

He said: “The first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded and that’s the thing that’s right in front of us and we need to work that through as we go towards the budget later this year.”

Healey accused the former Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir of putting the country’s security at risk with a disagreement over the long-awaited defence investment plan.

Elsewhere, new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said he shared “very warm conversation” with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth.

They are thought to have brainstormed ideas for an international conference which allies of the UK and US would attend, but have not yet firmed up the details of a summit.