Burnham Rules Out Election Before 2029, Says He Would Challenge Trump for Britain
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 26
Burnham Rules Out Election Before 2029, Says He Would Challenge Trump for Britain
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 26
Summary
Andy Burnham used his first major interview as prime minister to rule out any early general election before 2029 and say he would publicly challenge Donald Trump if Britain's national interest required it.
Asked about Trump, Burnham described their first exchange as warm but twice declined to say he trusted the US president, saying he would "call things as they develop" in a changing world.
On security, Burnham said he had concerns about Trump starting the conflict with Iran and would not commit to raising defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
Instead, he said the immediate task with his new chancellor was to fully fund the defence investment plan ahead of the budget later this year, despite his chancellor's earlier insistence on a 3% timetable.