EXCLUSIVE: 24 hours with Andy Burnham in Ukraine for his first major foreign policy interview. The domestic-focused PM leaves warming to his global role. “I’m at my best when I can see the injustice and I can go at it. I see it here and I feel it here. I come away more determined to do something.” -his gutting convo with wounded soldiers -his anger visiting civilian bomb sites -his emotion seeing Zelensky with war widows -his frustration at the idea he’s disinterested in foreign affairs and vow to maintain Britain’s leadership role -he says he’ll try to win Trump round on Patriots in the US next month -wants his trips abroad to have purpose -says the war is at a critical moment and now’s the time to dig in as the Russian economy hits the buffers -reveals Russian casualties have hit 1.5m -says there’s evidence Russian public opinion is shifting -says if Ukraine can make it to early next year things will be in its favour -his more personal, emotional approach to diplomacy -how he sees similarities between his style and Zelensky’s, albeit under very different circumstances -that guitar moment -his praise for Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer -his concern about the impact of Iran on the UK economy -his optimism for a progressive resurgence and end to right-wing populism not just in Britain but around the world, maybe even in the US. “The pendulum has to swing back” bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Scoop: Trump encouraged Zelensky to meet Putin in Moscow during their UN bilat this week despite repeated past refusals, as the US looks to reignite peace talks Zelensky again refused the request + was upset by the President raising it Story w/@EMPosts bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

BREAKING: Andy Burnham has pledged that he will not call a general election until one is due in 2029 He is moving to kill speculation about an early election (Bloomberg reported last Saturday that people close to Burnham had decided against it) Burnham says re 2029: “that’s when the next election will be” He categorically rules out an early election, including in May 2027 Asked about May 2027: “Absolutely not” PM: “No election any time soon” “All of this speculation on an early election, I can knock that dead,” he says, in a series of regional interviews with the BBC and ITV this afternoon

Exclusive: The UK is exploring strengthening ties with Mauritius including helping it access more aid money, in a bid to manage relations after Trump vetoed the Chagos deal for the foreseeable In a meeting at the UN this week, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Mauritius’ Foreign Minister Dhananjau Ramful that Britain could support it in a range of areas, from trade to accessing climate financing and backing economic and development projects, sources say Ramful says Miliband pledged “total collaboration” in identifying areas where Britain could provide support to Mauritius Officials confirm they want to strengthen bilateral ties with Mauritius but stress they are not reopening negotiations over the deal nor offering it new British taxpayer money One official says it’s essential to keep Mauritius onside given the Chagos deal now won’t proceed until Trump leaves the White House UK officials are very concerned that in the longer-term, Mauritius could sue Britain or move closer to China, increasing the risk of Beijing interfering with the Diego Garcia base. They still think the sovereignty deal is the best option to secure the base post-Trump In the meantime the UK needs to keep relations with Mauritius going. The island nation faces a budget deficit and needed the £165 million a year it would have got from Britain over the next three years if the deal had gone through Even if the UK does not directly offer Mauritius more money, there are ways it could help it access financing such as through British International Investment, a development finance institution controlled by the government, and other international climate financing schemes With @KB2803 @EllenAMilligan: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Exclusive: The UK is tightening sanctions on Iranian banks as part of the US-led economic pressure campaign aiming to force Tehran into signing a deal to end the war Details here, following John Healey + Scott Bessent’s call today: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

⚡️UK opposes EU delisting of 2 Russian oligarchs, calls for continued sanctions, Bloomberg reports. According to Bloomberg, Burnham also told Zelensky in their private meeting during the United Nations General Assembly that Ukraine's allies must keep sanctions in place against Russia to maintain pressure and help bring the war to an end. kyivindependent.com/uk-oppos…

EXCLUSIVE: Andy Burnham told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Britain disagrees with the EU’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman The PM also told Zelenskyy the UK will not be lifting its own sanctions on Usmanov and Fridman. The two men had interests in Britain before Russia’s full-scale invasion Burnham made the comments in a private meeting with the Ukrainian president at the UN yesterday It’s a rare break in UK-EU alignment on Russia sanctions. The EU this week removed restrictions on Usmanov at France’s request and Fridman at Luxembourg’s request Burnham told Zelenskyy that Ukraine’s allies should continue to maintain their sanctions to pressure Russia to end its war bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Latest scoop here on the uncertainty over a key military base used by the US in its war with Iran:

Exclusive with @EllenAMilligan UK officials say it is unclear how the Chagos Islands deal can be reworked despite Andy Burnham saying he’s reviewing it and Wes Streeting saying it isn’t good enough Burnham and his team do not know how or even if they can reconfigure the agreement, the officials said That means despite the ‘review’ announced at UNGA, in reality there is currently no prospect of a deal proceeding under Trump, as Ellen reported earlier this week A senior British official warns it would not be in the UK’s long-term national interest to drop the deal. They caution ministers against publicly criticising the agreement, as Streeting did earlier, because the UK would likely pursue it again in future So where does that leave Chagos and Burnham’s ‘review’ of the deal after Trump called it “terrible”? It appears the PM has in reality kicked it into the long grass until there is a new president That leaves the vitally important base in legal limbo for years bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Wrap from @ChaplainChloe at the UN:

Burnham opted for a laid back approach with Trump - and clearly charmed him, for now But his first big foreign outing shows how tough it is make progress on global policy Good vibes risk being only surface level as reality hits My piece: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

New: Andy Burnham has been urged by the OECD to cut spending as UK growth forecasts for next year are downgraded Britain needs to make “stronger efforts” to reduce public spending and bring debt under control, the think tank says It sees UK growth at just 1% next year and inflation above the 2% target It’s unwelcome news for Burnham and John Healey. It would put the UK in the middle of the G7 growth pack, behind the US, Germany and Canada Via @PhilAldrick bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Analysis here on the first Trump-Burnham bilat w/@ChaplainChloe + @josh_wingrove

Andy Burnham will be relieved he got through that Trump spray relatively drama free… but so far the wins on this trip look pretty surface level Trump was on his best behaviour, as he tends to be in these early meetings, swerving questions on Israel, generally praising Britain and Burnham and only disagreeing with him on Chagos, which is far from ideal but the UK govt is resigned to it (confirming @EllenAMilligan scoop yesterday) But as of right now there doesn’t seem to be much materially gained from the trip (with the caveat that it’s not over yet and better outcomes could still emerge) Burnham’s global AI safety initiative was immediately flatly rejected by Trump - a clear loss. So far there’s no real sign of more Patriots for Ukraine, probably the most important tangible, unless something is happening behind closed doors. That’s really the key question now On the Middle East there’s not much sign of deescalation and no sign yet anyone else is signing up alongside Britain to help the Saudis. Could still change So on a surface level an ok result with Trump but materially not much beyond that. Unless progress was made / is being made behind the scenes and emerges in the coming hours @ChaplainChloe @EllenAMilligan @josh_wingrove story: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Donald Trump confirms our scoop that the Chagos deal is likely to remain on ice until he leaves office, making clear in his first meeting with Andy Burnham that he remains opposed “I don’t support it, it was a terrible deal”

Burnham: AI needs a“single set of global principles and standards” Trump: “The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now."

Burnham's AI vision becoming more explicit - he told business leaders in New York he wants a “single set of global principles and standards” to protect against the tech Meanwhile Trump just told the UN calls for AI regulation are a “globalist scheme”... bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Andy Burnham has a big diplomatic to-do list in New York - persuade Trump to give Ukraine Patriot air defence missiles and up pressure on Putin - lobby him to deescalate in Iran, while urging others to follow the UK in helping Saudi against Houthis - carve out what he calls a “sweet spot” for the UK on AI amid criticism that he doesn’t have a clear policy position - convince von der Leyen to take a less hostile approach on the EU’s Made in Europe policy Huge amount of work for a PM who wanted to focus on domestic issues but is finding they are at the whim of global events With @ChaplainChloe in NY: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

NEW: Andy Burnham confirms Bloomberg story. He’s authorised the UK military to provide defensive support for Saudi Arabia as it counters the Houthis PM says: “We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support, and on the advice of the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, last night I agreed to that request for defensive air to air refueling, and that’s the agreement that we’ve given. That is a time-limited agreement in terms of the assistance that we will provide, but we will keep it under review. It’s defensive support.” Via @ChaplainChloe travelling with Burnham to New York

EXCLUSIVE with @FionamMacDonald The UK is close to agreeing to provide Saudi Arabia’s military with operational support to counter Houthi fighters, and will lobby other nations to help repel the Iran-backed group Andy Burnham is minded to offer the Saudi military defensive support after considering requests from Riyadh over the past several days, according to several people familiar with the matter It would be one of his first significant military decisions since becoming prime minister Some of the people said it could include things like aerial refuelling. One stressed the importance of the Middle East returning to stability, especially in light of Houthis attacks on Saudi and threats to a key shipping route, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait Bloomberg reported last week that the UK was considering requests from Riyadh for a range of diplomatic and military support Burnham has also agreed that the UK government will lobby other nations to also offer support for Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, the people said bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Trump says Russia has “lost control” of its oil industry due to Ukrainian attacks. Whether he meant to or not, that’s a big endorsement of the effectiveness of Ukrainian strategy and an indictment of the state of Russia’s economy that the Kremlin will not have wanted to see