UK politics latest: Burnham says he will find ‘common ground’ with Trump in first meeting

Andy Burnham has said he is expecting to find “common ground” with Donald Trump during their first in-person meeting.

Since entering No10, the prime minister and the US president have spoken twice on the phone.

He told reporters: “We’ve found a connection. So, I will go with where I feel it’s right, to meet him where he is at, and search for that common ground, which I’m sure we’ll find.

He added: “I’m looking forward to it.”

The UK’s borders are secure, a minister has insisted after a migrant boat reached the Kent coast without being intercepted.

Five people were detained and passed to Border Security Command after the dinghy made it to shore at Folkestone on Monday – the first undetected landing for a year.

Defence minister Luke Pollard dismissed suggestions the Government had lost control of the border.

“Our borders are secure, but we want to make them stronger,” he told LBC Radio on Tuesday.

Asked how the boat slipped through, Mr Pollard said a Home Office investigation was under way to determine what had happened, without going into detail.

He also said: “We’re aware that the boat that got through, everyone has been detained on it.”

The thousands of migrants crossing the Channel are usually brought to shore by Border Security Command or RNLI boats.

No small boat arrivals to the UK coast without an escort have been officially recorded since 6 September 2025.

A recent poll has shown support for Reform UK has fallen to its lowest level since the 2024 general election.

The YouGov poll for Sky News and The Times has put the party in joint second place with the Conservatives, suggesting Kemi Badenoch’s popularity is improving while Nigel Farage’s appeal is waning.

The voting intention tracker places Labour at 23 per cent, with Reform UK and the Tories at 21 per cent each.

Andy Burnham will urge Brussels’ top official Ursula von der Leyen not to use protectionist measures to freeze UK firms out of European contracts.

The prime minister will meet the European Commission president in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday with a message that “we are not your enemy”.

He will warn that UK industry risks becoming “collateral damage” as a result of the EU’s scheme to protect its manufacturing businesses from being undercut by competition from China.

The so-called “Made in Europe” scheme – formally known as the Industrial Accelerator Act – could damage firms which are closely linked to supply chains across the continent.

The EU’s proposals intend to focus public contracts and subsidies for clean technologies such as electric vehicles and green energy on manufacturers based within the bloc.

The move could potentially hit some British manufacturers and firms supplying components to companies based in the EU.

Mr Burnham said he would be raising the concerns directly with Ms Von der Leyen in New York.

“We do have concerns about Made in Europe, which is something that could affect British industry and British supply chains,” he said.

“I will meet the President of the European Commission… and I will, in a constructive spirit, put on the table some of our concerns towards those things.”

Ask any UK opposition party leader and they’ll tell you that they can see very few differences between Sir Keir Starmer and the man who replaced him.

From the economy to foreign policy, Andy Burnham has given very little away when it comes to his agenda for his time in office and, on many issues, has said he will continue work started by Sir Keir.

But as he took questions from journalists on his plane to New York, it took just a few minutes for Mr Burnham to offer up a key divergence from his predecessor when it comes to Britain’s relationship with Europe.

In response to a direct question from The Independent, he did not rule out putting a pledge to rejoin the EU in Labour’s next election manifesto – a stance very different to that of Starmer’s government.

Read the analysis from our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin here:

Andy Burnham appeared to leave the door open to reversing Brexit as he failed to rule out putting a pledge to rejoin the EU in Labour’s next manifesto.

It comes hours before the prime minister will tell world leaders in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Britain is entering a new era. He said he would point to last decade “with Brexit and turbulence – and say we’re moving beyond that”.

Asked directly by The Independent if he could rule out a promise to rejoin the bloc in his party’s manifesto, Mr Burnham said it was a question “for another day”.

Read the full article here:

British military aid to Saudi Arabia will conform with international law, a defence minister has said.

Luke Pollard told Sky News: “They’ll be for defensive actions, where all actions will be in compliance with international humanitarian law, because UK military assets are not used if there’s any doubt around IHL compliance.

“And that is not only supporting our friends in Saudi Arabia being able to defend themselves against the attacks the Houthis have made on them, but it’s also about supporting our own national security and the flow of navigation, flow of traffic through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.”

Asked if it was also the morally right thing to do, Mr Pollard said: “In dangerous times, good friends stand together, and there’s a morality of being true to our allies.

“Saudi Arabia have requested air-to-air refuelling. After discussion, we’ve agreed to that request.

“That is a key part of being able to project not just our values, but also our values around national security, but also about supporting allies in these difficult times.”

Britain will provide military support to Saudi Arabia to counter attacks by Iran-backed Houthis and protect energy supplies, Andy Burnham has confirmed – marking his first authorisation of military action as prime minister.

Speaking to The Independent en route to New York for the UN General Assembly, where will meet Donald Trump face-to-face for the first time, Mr Burnham revealed he had agreed to Riyadh’s request for defensive air-to-air refuelling.

Advances by the Houthis in Yemen in recent weeks have also seen the rebel group launch attacks across Saudi Arabia, extending the wider Middle East ⁠conflict and further threatened global energy supplies.

Read the full article here:

Artificial intelligence does not keep me awake at night, a defence minister has insisted, but he said we must “keep a very close eye” on it.

As Andy Burnham travels to the UN in New York, Luke Pollard argued that Britain must be “at the top table” for the development of AI, saying that it will be “such an important part” of the prime minister’s remarks at the summit.

Mr Pollard told Sky News: “As a defence minister, there’s lots of things that keep me awake at night, but AI is not one of those because I know the systems that we have are robust and secure.

“But the way that AI can be used with other weapon systems by countries that might not have the same values, have the same moral code as Western nations do, is something that means that we have to keep a very close eye on this.

“And the best way of doing that is instead of being a spectator on the sidelines, commenting on what happens on AI, as a nation, the United Kingdom is on the pitch. We are at the top table for artificial intelligence, and that is a really important place for us to be.

“It’s the reason why the prime minister is making AI such an important part of his remarks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he is at the moment.

“Why we’ll be working with our friends and allies to make the case. But as a global technology, we need global solutions to it.”

A government minister has suggested that Andy Burnham will use his meeting with Donald Trump to persuade him to back the controversial agreement to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius.

The United States previously backed the deal, but Mr Trump later expressed concerns over security as a result of a joint UK-US military base housed on Diego Garcia in the Chagos archipelago.

Defence minister Luke Pollard told Sky News: “My key concern is making sure that the United Kingdom and the United States that use the base on Diego Garcia can continue to operate it without any fettering, without any restrictions on our ability to do so.

“The best way to secure that is with an agreement that locks in the sovereignty position for the next century and beyond, and enables us to use that base.

“Now, that’s an agreement that Donald Trump previously agreed with. It’s one that the US national security infrastructure, from the US military, the CIA, and the other arms of that institution also agree with.

“So we have to make that case because this is one of the most important bases on the entire planet for the United Kingdom and for the United States, and finding a way of securing its operation is the key part of that.”

He added: “Previously he backed it. He has chosen not to back it more recently, but that’s why conversation with a good friend is important, and that’s why we will continue to undertake that.”