Britain’s Burnham seeks common ground with Trump at UN, pitches UK as major AI player
NEW YORK: British Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces a double test on the world stage Tuesday when he meets US President Donald Trump for the first time and addresses the United Nations General Assembly.
It’s a baptism of fire for the neophyte leader, who has gone from mayor of the northwest England city of Manchester to leader of a G7 country in a matter of weeks.
He will urge Trump to step up US support for Ukraine and hopes to avoid US criticism of the UK’s decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.He also will try to send a message that Britain can play a key role in solving the world’s biggest challenges, from conflict in the Middle East to the dizzying evolution of artificial intelligence. And he will attempt to turn the page on a decade of Brexit-driven discord with the UK’s European neighbours.
As he flew to New York for the annual gathering of world leaders, Burnham announced he had authorised limited military support for Saudi Arabia to repel attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.As he flew to New York for the annual gathering of world leaders, Burnham announced he had authorised limited military support for Saudi Arabia to repel attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
A Royal Air Force plane will refuel Saudi jets engaged in “defensive” action to shoot down Houthi missiles, he said.
Burnham said he would raise with Trump ways to end the on-off war between the US and Iran, which has choked off oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz and sent global fuel prices soaring.We want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part,” Burnham said.
He also will urge the US president to provide air-defence missiles to Ukraine ahead of another winter of Russian attacks.
Burnham told reporters he would try to find “common ground” with Trump, who has called the centre-left UK leader “a nice guy” but “unfortunately” a liberalBurnham plans to strike a note of “hope” in his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday evening, despite warning the world faces “dark clouds of instability.”
Burnham said he would focus on AI, arguing it’s possible to be “clear-eyed” about both the benefits and risks of the technology. He will argue the UK is well placed to be an “honest broker” in seeking global agreement to guide its development, because London has good relations with both the US and Europe and “a strong dialogue” with China.He also will say Britain is moving on from the tumultuous decade since the UK’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. He suggested Brexit was a point at which the country took a wrong turn, fuelled by misinformation.He told reporters that in the past decade, Britain had experienced “the turbulence that comes when outside actors seek to manipulate, distort facts, influence the British democratic process.”
“Going into the next decade we need to be clear-eyed about that and stronger and more on the front foot about challenging that,” he said
The policy of Burnham’s Labour Party government is to seek closer relations with the EU without reversing the decision to leave the now 27-nation bloc. Burnham hinted that he could go further at the next national election, which is due by 2029.