LONDON (AP) 鈥� New U.K. gathered his Cabinet for its first meeting on Tuesday and vowed to take a 鈥渙ne-team approach鈥� despite purging allies of predecessor from the government.
Burnham told his top team that he would lead a 鈥渃ost-of-living government鈥� focused on easing the economic burden felt by millions of people.
鈥淲e need to think every day, what can we do just to take that little bit of pressure off people鈥檚 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,鈥� 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 as leader of , becoming Britain鈥檚 seventh prime minister since 2016. Starmer resigned just two years after winning , forced out by his party after missteps and U-turns.
In his as prime minister, Burnham pledged to ease the cost of living, decentralize political power, revitalize industry and end street sleeping by homeless people 鈥� , 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 鈥渢ake a really hard look at what our priorities are.鈥�
Starmer loyalists removed from office
After taking office Monday, Burnham set about remaking the government.
Starmer鈥檚 finance minister, , was ousted, replaced by John Healey, a former defense secretary who 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 鈥渁 dead hand on dynamic government鈥� and 鈥渋n denial.鈥�
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.
, 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鈥檚 senior ministers including ex-Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, former Business Secretary Peter Kyle and Starmer鈥檚 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 and and managing relations with U.S. President , who first warmed to Starmer before .
Burnham鈥檚 office said he had an 鈥渆xtremely warm鈥� conversation with Trump in one of his first calls as prime minister and 鈥渦nderlined his commitment to defense and security.鈥� Trump posted on social media that the men had 鈥渁 very good conversation鈥� and would be 鈥渕eeting in the not too distant future for topics of mutual interest.鈥�
The prime minister also spoke to Ukraine鈥檚 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鈥檚 finances 鈥渨as a signal of his intent.鈥�
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 鈥渃ontinues to track the vessel鈥檚 activity closely and stands ready to protect U.K. national security.鈥�
Streeting, the new defense secretary, said the Russian ship’s actions were 鈥減erformative and irresponsible.鈥�
鈥淩ussia 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,鈥� he said at a news conference.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian warships always acted 鈥渋n strict accordance鈥� 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 鈥渘o such hopes.鈥�
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