Britain's newbie prime minister got through an hour with the U.S. president mostly unscathed. But the immediate differences were on show more than with Keir Starmer.
US president calls UK prime minister ‘a natural businessperson’ as leaders meet at UN assembly in New York Donald Trump has asserted his relationship with the UK is “more up” with Andy Burnham than under Keir Starmer despite tensions between the two countries on a range of thorny issues including regulation of artificial intelligence, the Chagos islands and the war in Iran. At their first face-to-face meeting, the US president praised Burnham, who sat nervously alongside him, as a “natural businessperson”, saying he thought he had “lots of assets on his side” and would be a “great” prime minister. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Pippa Crerar in New York and Kiran Stacey in London17h ago
US president says British PM has a ‘lot of assets on his side’ as pair meet at UN in New York UK politics live – latest updates Donald Trump has praised Andy Burnham as a “natural businessman” and said the relationship is “more up” than under Keir Starmer. But he berated the UK for its decision to give up the Chagos Islands. In their first face-to-face meeting, Trump gave a warm assessment of the relationship, saying he thought Burnham had a “lot of assets on his side” and would be a “great prime minister”, adding: “We talked about everything from Rolls-Royce to energy to immigration – we covered a lot.” Continue reading...
The Guardian•Rowena Mason Whitehall editor20h ago
The U.K. PM’s comments are a major shift in rhetoric from the days of predecessor Keir Starmer.
Burnham is heading to New York for the United Nations general assembly Good morning. Andy Burnham is at the United Nations general assembly today and in a speech to the world (or, technically, to people in the hall and anyone watching on TV at around 2am UK time), he will say that Britain is not “on the slide”. Speaking to reporters on the plane to New York, Burnham said: 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. Government sources told the Guardian that Burnham would try to pursue a “third way” in his relationship with the US president, neither as adversarial as the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, nor as publicly fawning as [Keir] Starmer’s early approach, and relying on the strength of his personality. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Andrew Sparrow22 Sept
Wife of former PM takes part in designer Edeline Lee’s show inspired by the Greek myth of Sisyphus Victoria Starmer has taken part in a London fashion week show, in one of her first public appearances since her husband, Keir Starmer, stepped down as prime minister. Lady Starmer appeared at Sunday’s Edeline Lee show. The London-based, Canadian British designer’s clothes are a favourite of the Princess of Wales, and have also been worn by celebrities including singer Taylor Swift and actor and screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Hannah Al-Othman20 Sept
Sir Keir Starmer's departure means Sir Ed Davey, in post since early 2020, is now the longest-serving national party leader.
Sky News18 Sept
Exclusive: Leader understood to have wanted to concentrate on Holborn and St Pancras campaign in London but executive committee voted against plan Zack Polanski requested that the Greens’ ruling executive committee postpone the party’s imminent annual conference so they could focus on the Holborn and St Pancras byelection but was refused. While party officials say the formal request came from staffers worried about diluting resources by staging a conference a week before Polanski tries to win Keir Starmer’s former Commons seat, the Guardian understands the party leader wanted this to happen. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Peter Walker Senior political correspondent18 Sept
Andy Burnham’s focus on immediate domestic problems leads some to fear issue has dropped off government’s radar Towards the end of Keir Starmer’s time in office, his senior ministers, alarmed by the latest developments in artificial intelligence, began drawing up plans for a new AI safety law. They ordered a review of existing legislation to see what powers they already had, according to those briefed on the plans, and were exploring whether they could force the world’s most advanced technology companies to submit their products for safety testing before launching them. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Kiran Stacey and Dan Milmo18 Sept
Aid to lower-income countries fell by almost 7%, while higher-income countries saw their share of Britain’s aid budget increase The world’s poorest countries were worst hit by British aid cuts under Keir Starmer’s government, while higher-income countries saw their share of aid increase, new figures reveal. The latest figures released by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office show a 6.7% decrease in funding to the least-developed countries and low-income countries, amounting to cuts of £118m. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Kaamil Ahmed18 Sept
Britain’s new prime minister is set for his first meeting with the U.S. president next Tuesday. Unlike Keir Starmer, he won’t be angling for a second helping.
What happens when the keys to Number 10 are handed back? Anne reports from a gathering of former prime ministers – Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer – and reveals what life after power really looks like. Meanwhile, after some football diplomacy with Canadian PM Mark Carney, could it offer a chance for Andy Burnham to […]
Government sources say legislation aimed at China poses a risk to British businesses and must be addressed European legislation that threatens to lock British business out of EU industry could derail a planned reset summit between the bloc and the UK, government sources have said. The “Made in Europe” legislation – formally known as the Industrial Accelerator Act – is designed to curb China’s increasing presence in European industry, but was not on the reset plan agreed by the former prime minister, Keir Starmer , and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, in London in May 2025. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Lisa O’Carroll and Jessica Elgot16 Sept
Former chief of staff said he wanted a space for Downing Street thinking that would be “protected from the level of scrutiny” that comes with government.
Surely that’s the lesson the Reform polling furore should teach us. Politics should be about actually helping people, not mastering the line on a graph Solemn faces all round. We will listen. We will learn. We will hone and improve. Yes, it’s time for the latest bout of profound soul-searching in the UK polling industry following the allegations raised by the recent Channel 4 investigation that a polling firm reportedly failed to declare that three polls it published before the local elections in May were commissioned by Reform. By now these reckonings are becoming a regular occurrence in the wake of big elections: pollsters gather in a room, nibble biscuits, ritually self-flagellate, and pledge to learn all the right lessons from the electorate they’ve just catastrophically misread. Yet for all its very public ignominies, political polling is one of those rare and precious industries that somehow manages to keep failing upwards. You might think that after botching the 2015 and 2017 general elections , the 2016 Brexit vote and the 2021 London mayoral poll, we might have learned better than to trust in the mystical magic graph. In this parallel universe Keir Starmer is now sitting on a colossal 318-seat majority, as forecast by Survation in its final MRP poll on the eve of the 2024 general election, overstating the actual result by a mere 144 parliamentary seats. Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The Guardian•Jonathan Liew15 Sept
In today’s newsletter: Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Sinn Féin have signed an agreement for greater powers, as pressure grows on Westminster over the UK’s future Good morning. Back in May, the shape of British politics shifted dramatically. I’ll forgive you if you were too preoccupied refreshing Andrew Sparrow’s live blog for the latest speculation about Keir Starmer to notice, but since 7 May, centre-left nationalist parties that ultimately aspire to leave the UK have been in government for the first time simultaneously in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This week sees the initial codification of that shift. In Cardiff yesterday, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Scottish National party leader John Swinney and Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill (who shares power with the Democratic Unionist party) affirmed their countries’ right to seek independence from the UK. Along with the leader of the opposition in Ireland, Mary Lou McDonald, they signed a memorandum of understanding that called on Westminster “to prepare, plan and facilitate constitutional change in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland”. And they posed for a fair number of group photos too. Reform UK | Andy Burnham’s government could thwart Reform’s unprecedented £72m donations with retrospective restrictions on political donors that will include tough new residency requirements, ministers have announced. AI | Donald Trump has dismissed calls to increase controls on AI as a “sick conspiracy”, as stocks linked to the technology slumped after appeals from Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX leaders on the weekend for the industry to slow down. Nato | Nato fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania after an alert was issued in the capital and surrounding region, while Poland scrambled fighter jets less than a day after retrieving a suspected Russian drone adrift in its waters. Middle East | Yemen’s Houthi rebels have seized two strategic islands in the Red Sea, reinforcing the Iran-backed group’s ability to control a key shipping route, as concerns mount that the world is facing a new oil supply crisis. Lucy Letby | Two leading experts have quit Lucy Letby’s defence team over concerns about the “scientific credibility” of some of its evidence. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Libby Brooks15 Sept
Special approval needed for amount that surpassed what Chris Wormald was ‘contractually entitled to’ The former head of the civil service Chris Wormald received a record payout of almost £860,000 when he was forced out of the top job in Whitehall by Keir Starmer. Cabinet Office accounts have revealed that the former cabinet secretary, who was sacked earlier this year , was paid £859,496 upon departure. The figure is an unprecedented amount, which required civil servants to seek a special direction from ministers to approve it because it was “greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to”. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor14 Sept
Human rights organisations concerned about people – including age-disputed children – returned under one in, out out deal Hundreds of asylum seekers – including at least 41 age-disputed children – removed to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, human rights organisations have said. The one in, one out pilot scheme was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the former prime minister Keir Starmer when he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced it in July 2025. Under a treaty drawn up for this agreement, it forcibly returns one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for another asylum seeker brought legally to the UK from France. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Diane Taylor11 SeptHuman rights organisations concerned about people – including age-disputed children – returned under one in, out out deal Hundreds of asylum seekers – including at least 41 age-disputed children – removed to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, human rights organisations have said. The one in, one out pilot scheme was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the former prime minister Keir Starmer when he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced it in July 2025. Under a treaty drawn up for this agreement, it forcibly returns one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for another asylum seeker brought legally to the UK from France. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Diane Taylor11 Sept
Leader has said Greens are underdogs in race for Keir Starmer’s former seat but he is confident they can beat Labour Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has been selected as its candidate for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection on 8 October. The seat became vacant this month when the former prime minister Keir Starmer announced he was leaving parliament . Continue reading...
The Guardian•Helena Horton11 Sept