Andy Burnham has declined to say whether he trusts Donald Trump, even as the US president signals a possible end to the war with Iran — a conflict the prime minister has admitted caused him “concern”.
In his first major interview as prime minister, Burnham told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg he had found Trump “really warm” after a good first phone exchange. But asked twice if he would trust the US leader, Burnham dodged, replying: “It’s a changing world isn’t it, and you just obviously have to call things as they develop.”
“Burnham won't say if he trusts Trump, as Iran war pause raises defence spending questions.”
Pressed on whether he would call out Trump if it served Britain, Burnham said “of course”. “You have to defend your own national interest before anything else,” he added. “That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly.”
The comments come as Trump revealed that “very friendly negotiations” are under way to end the war with Iran, after three days without strikes. “I think there’s a good chance that something could happen,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. But he warned that Washington would “go back to doing what we were doing” if talks fail — a reference to the near-daily US strikes that began on 28 February and unravelled a ceasefire struck in June. Tehran has denied direct negotiations are happening.
Burnham said he “wouldn’t hold back from saying what I think is right” about the conflict, which he described as a source of “concern”. The US military says its strikes target Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route. Oil prices fell more than 9% to $87.59 a barrel on Monday amid hopes of de-escalation.
Yet the prime minister would not commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence — a promise his own chancellor, John Healey, resigned from the previous government over, warning the country would not be safe without it by 2030. Burnham said he appointed Healey “very aware of what he had said about the critical importance of defence spending”, but added: “The first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded… we need to work that through as we go towards the budget later this year.” Asked again about the 3% target, he said: “We’ve got to work out the way of doing that.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp acknowledged the dilemma: “Clearly, the US is a long standing ally. We need to have good relations with them but if they do something we disagree with, we should honestly say so.”
With the Iran pause offering a fragile window, Burnham’s balancing act — defending the national interest while keeping Washington close — faces its first real test.
