LONDON (AP) 鈥� is a man in a hurry.
Since . on Monday, Britain鈥檚 new prime minister has traveled to the southeast, southwest and northwest of England, and to Scotland, spoken to more than a dozen world leaders and made a flurry of small but symbolic economic announcements: a tax cut on household electricity bills, a 2 pound ($2.70) cap on bus fares and a tax break for pubs.
鈥淲e are on borrowed time if we don鈥檛 get a move on,鈥� newly appointed Housing Secretary Angela Rayner told the BBC on Friday. 鈥淭his is a down payment within the first week that says, 鈥榃e get it.鈥欌��
On Friday Burnham gathered Cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and regional mayors at 鈥淣o, 10 North,鈥� an outpost of the prime minister鈥檚 office in Manchester, 165 miles (265 kilometers) northwest of London.
Burnham says he will work at least one day a week from the northern office, which will serve as the cockpit for his goal of spreading economic growth to 鈥渆very post code鈥� in the land.
Decentralizing power and from southern England to post-industrial cities and depleted seaside towns is key to Burnham鈥檚 platform, and he told staff as he arrived at No.10 North on Friday: 鈥淭his might be the best day of my life.鈥�
Opposition politicians have called the northern office 鈥� housed for now in an office building shared with a branch of the cyberintelligence agency 鈥� a gimmick. But Burnham said it will be 鈥渢he nerve center for a rewired Britain.鈥�
Writing in The Guardian, he said that for decades too much 鈥渄ecision-making power has remained in London,鈥� and struggling areas of the U.K. 鈥渉ave been unable to turn things around because they simply do not have the necessary power to do so.鈥�
No, 10 North 鈥渋s about taking power down and placing it in the hands of people who can use it best,鈥� he wrote.
Burnham became prime minister and leader of the governing Labour Party after his predecessor was forced out after two years in office marred by missteps, scandals and plummeting popularity ratings.
Starmer floundered because he failed to deliver the economic growth he promised in his 2024 election campaign. Burnham says he will be different, but faces , especially finding a way to reinvigorate an economy that has grown an average of less than 1.5% a year since 2009 and unearthing funds to restore .
Foreign policy pressures mount quickly
Burnham, who has little foreign policy experience, also must deal with the same volatile world. He has signaled continuity with Starmer in key foreign policy areas. He reassured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that U.K. support for Ukraine remains 鈥渞esolute鈥� and told Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that Greenland鈥檚 future 鈥渟hould only be determined by the people of Greenland and Denmark,鈥� in reference to stated desire to take over the .
He’s also facing threatening new rhetoric from Iran. Tehran accused the U.K. of 鈥渃omplicity鈥� in American aggression by allowing the U.S. to use British bases for airstrikes on Iran and said it could face 鈥渃onsequences and repercussions.鈥�
Burnham has maintained Starmer鈥檚 policy of letting American forces use U.K. bases to hit targets involved in attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran鈥檚 threat came after Britain and accused it of being behind a series of arson attacks on the Jewish community and Persian-language media outlets in the U.K.
Britain鈥檚 Ministry of Defense said 鈥渢he U.K. stands ready 24/7 to defend itself.鈥�
鈥淭he U.K.鈥檚 approach to the conflict remains the same 鈥� we are committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict,鈥� it said in a statement.
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