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New UK PM Gathers His Cabinet 07/22 06:09
LONDON (AP) -- New U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham gathered his Cabinet for
its first meeting on Tuesday and vowed to take a "one-team approach" despite
purging allies of predecessor Keir Starmer from the government.
Burnham told his top team that he would lead a "cost-of-living government"
focused on easing the economic burden felt by millions of people.
"We need to think every day, what can we do just to take that little bit of
pressure off people's shoulders, to give them that little extra sense that help
is coming, so they can have that bit of hope that things are getting better,"
Burnham said.
He made a small down payment on that pledge by announcing a tax cut on
domestic electricity bills that will save the average household about 45 pounds
($60) a year. The cut will take effect Oct. 1, Burnham said, with the funding
coming from scrapping a plan for digital ID cards announced by Starmer.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester entered Downing Street on Monday
after replacing Starmer as leader of the governing Labour Party, becoming
Britain's seventh prime minister since 2016. Starmer resigned just two years
after winning a landslide election victory, forced out by his party after
missteps and U-turns.
In his first speech as prime minister, Burnham pledged to ease the cost of
living, decentralize political power, revitalize industry and end street
sleeping by homeless people -- a tall order, especially given Britain's
sluggish economic growth in recent years.
Burnham acknowledged at the Cabinet meeting that the government would have
to make difficult financial decisions and "take a really hard look at what our
priorities are."
Starmer loyalists removed from office
After taking office Monday, Burnham set about remaking the government.
Starmer's finance minister, Rachel Reeves, was ousted, replaced by John
Healey, a former defense secretary who resigned in June and accused the
Treasury of failing to spend enough on the military at a time of rising
threats. In an interview after he quit, Healey called the Treasury "a dead hand
on dynamic government" and "in denial."
Healey has said defense spending, due to be 2.6% of GDP next year, should
rise to 3% by 2030. Now he will have to find the money.
Wes Streeting, whose resignation as health secretary in May helped topple
Starmer, took over the defense portfolio.
Other key Cabinet appointees include Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Housing
Secretary Angela Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who has an
expanded brief that includes innovation and science.
Louise Haigh, a key Burnham ally who helped engineer his rise to the top,
was named First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,
effectively the deputy prime minister.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has overseen contentious rules designed
to reduce immigration, kept her job.
Burnham has huge support from the party that is desperate for a new leader
to reverse its decline in popularity under Starmer. But there is some grumbling
after Burnham removed several of Starmer's senior ministers including ex-Deputy
Prime Minister David Lammy, former Business Secretary Peter Kyle and Starmer's
chief secretary, Darren Jones.
Foreign policy challenges lie ahead
Burnham has little experience of foreign policy and faces a stack of
challenges including wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and managing relations
with U.S. President Donald Trump, who first warmed to Starmer before souring on
him.
Burnham's office said he had an "extremely warm" conversation with Trump in
one of his first calls as prime minister and "underlined his commitment to
defense and security." Trump posted on social media that the men had "a very
good conversation" and would be "meeting in the not too distant future for
topics of mutual interest."
The prime minister also spoke to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and leaders
of the European Union and NATO.
Burnham told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that putting former defense
chief Healey in charge of the nation's finances "was a signal of his intent."
In a reminder of the growing international tensions Britain faces, a Russian
warship carried out a live-fire weapons exercise in the English Channel on
Monday, the day Burnham took office.
The Ministry of Defense said the frigate Neustrashimy was being shadowed by
the Royal Navy when it conducted the exercise in international waters about 46
miles (74 kilometers) south of the southwest England port city of Plymouth. It
said the navy "continues to track the vessel's activity closely and stands
ready to protect U.K. national security."
Streeting, the new defense secretary, said the Russian ship's actions were
"performative and irresponsible."
"Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government and this
prime minister, our resolve to stand against Russian aggression in Ukraine but
also Russian aggression against all of our allies," he said at a news
conference.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian warships always acted "in
strict accordance" with international and maritime law.
Asked whether the Russian government felt relations with the U.K. would
improve under the new prime minister, Peskov said it had "no such hopes."
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