In his first speech to the UN since becoming PM in July, Andy Burnham used his 21 minutes to cover AI, Russian aggression, Gaza, and Britain’s place in the world
Burnham spoke for 21 minutes (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham used his first speech to the UN to talk up Britain’s place in global politics for the coming years — promising world leaders they can ‘count on us’.
In a wide-ranging speech, the new Prime Minister launched a blistering attack on Russia, announced a new international security deal with the US just hours after meeting Donald Trump, renewed calls for a two-state solution in the Middle East, and launched two major domestic policies.
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The summit in New York was seen as Burnham’s first major test as an international diplomat since becoming Prime Minister in July. Over the last few hours, he has met with numerous world leaders for the first time, including Donald Trump, and used his 21-minute speech to set out his vision for British diplomatic leadership.
These are the six things we learned from Andy Burnham’s first speech to the UN.
Burnham slams Russia: “Insidious campaign”
After Burnham took to the stage and mentioned Brexit, briefly, it quickly became clear who the villain of his speech was going to be: Russia.
He then launched a blistering attack on Kremlin interference with British life, as Putin’s delegation watched on.
The PM said: “Russian agencies have used every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people’s fear.
“They’ve used bots and fake websites. Falsified newspaper articles. Forged the branding of 28 British organisations – including universities and the BBC. They’ve amplified far-right narratives.
“And we have evidence that they tried to interfere with the 2019 General Election.”
He added Putin’s government spends ‘£1.3 billion’ on ‘manipulating information’.
“We also know that they have tried to stoke tensions and unrest in the wake of horrific events,” Burnham continued. “The idea that anyone would try to use such things to their advantage is just repulsive – but it is what they do.”
Russia has previously been accused of using illicitly acquired documents about UK-US trade talks to try to influence the 2019 contest.
Chillingly, the Russian delegation showed little emotion when Burnham put these charges to them.
Burnham’s speech was seen as hir first major international test (Image: Getty)
New ‘National Centre for Information Defence’ to be created
From his attack on Russia, Burnham announced one of two new domestic policies highlighted in the speech. He is creating a new National Centre for Information Defence that will tackle online lies and deepfakes damaging British interests.
The new unit is initially being led out of the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the new centre working alongside intelligence agencies, government departments, the police and social media companies.
After raising the ‘insidious campaign’ orchestrated by the Kremlin, Burnham said the new unit will be necessary as ‘AI will multiply the threat’ already posed by bad actors online.
Burnham set to unveil ‘10 year plan for Britain’
The new government is set to unveil a new decade-long plan for the country later this year, Burnham revealed for the first time at the UN.
It will focus on getting more people into work — especially young people — and easing the cost-of-living crisis for most people, Burnham said, but he did not announce any specific measures at the time.
However, it appears Burnham is selling this new plan as a response to insecurity. He said ‘security starts in every home’, and he believes getting more people in work means they are less susceptible to falling foul of misinformation online.
He said: “Part of the challenge is to lift our people up and create the opportunities they need. When inequalities grow too wide, our societies are at greater risk.
“So we will work to make life more affordable for people. That will be at the heart of a new 10 year plan for Britain that we will bring forward later in the year.”
Burnham and Trump met for the first time hours before the speech (Image: Getty)
UK signs AI deal with US as Burnham pitches Britain as ‘honest broker’
Just hours after first meeting Donald Trump, Burnham announced a new national security deal with the US as part of a section of his address which touched on AI fears.
He told delegates: “I am announcing today that we are developing a new AI defence partnership with the United States to protect our critical national infrastructure.”
Details of the deal have not been revealed.
Burnham went on to say that, as ‘AI will also be a source of disruption to the way we live and work’, he wants the UK to act as an ‘honest broker’ to draw up ‘a single set of global principles and standards’ for the development of frontier AI.
Two-state solution must stay in play for Gaza
As his speech started to draw to a close, Burnham turned his attention to the Middle East, and renewed calls for a two-state solution in Gaza.
He condemned Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel as ‘utterly horrific’, but then said of Israel’s response in the years since: “Far too many people have died, including so many children. Far too little aid is getting in, and it has gone on for far too long.”
That was why the UK ‘banned trading goods with illegal settlements, recognised the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory is unlawful, and sanctioned those taking part in the construction of illegal settlements’ earlier this month, he said. But Burnham looked to the future and said the two-state solution must ‘stay alive’.
He added: “We want to see the suffering and death finally come to an end. We want to see Israeli and Palestinian people living side by side in peace and security. And we will do all we can to keep the hope of that possibility alive.”
‘Britain is back… count on us’
Burnham’s opening gambit was to tell the world ‘Britain is back’ — and after 20 minutes, he clarified that meant global politicians can ‘count on us’ in the years to come.
He concluded his speech by saying: “You can count on us to stand up for those long standing British values of fairness and justice.
“Count on us to fight racism, discrimination and the abuse of power wherever we see it. Count on us to bring people together.
“Count on us to meet fear and division with unity and hope.”
GB News star staggered as guest demands Britain be sued for slavery: ‘Insane!’
Patrick Christys lost it during a clash with an anti-racism activist.
Patrick Christys lost it on GB News (Image: GB News)
GB News star Patrick Christys was left staggered as he interviewed anti-racism activist Imran Ayton, who insisted people from the Caribbean and Africa should be paid reparations for slavery from Brits. In a painful clash on the news channel, Christys argued that his family heritage as peasants and farmers should mean he is exempt from responsibility – which Ayton disagreed with.
Dismissing white people and GB News stars as “you lot”, she fumed: “You lot like to talk about benefits – we’ve all been lied to. You talk about education; well, West Africa already had education, studied mathematics, astronomy, medicine, law, logic, philosophy, engineering, technology, 400 years before British invasion. That also adds to democracy and law, you lot like to throw that at Black people.”
Later in the conversation, Christys pointed to his own family history and argued: “You were saying there that I’ve done all of this – I haven’t done anything! None of my family have done anything! There are people in Britain right now that have not done absolutely anything for any of this stuff!
“And yet what’s going on in Caribbean schools, and you’ve just done it here, you’re teaching them that people like me and people who look like me have done all this horrendous stuff to you, when we haven’t at all!”
Ayton responded: “Britain generated wealth. Every type of industry – every organisation and institution during that time benefitted.
The pair clashed live on air (Image: GB News)
“Regions such as Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Yorkshire, benefitted. And industries such as finance and insurance and shipping imports and textiles, all of those jobs all benefitted. Then that wealth was trickled down. It carried on over the years, and people got to benefit.
“To this day, people that are rich, people who are loving Liverpool and London and Bristol and Yorkshire, it’s all to do with slavery!”
Responding to his claims about family history, she insisted if Christys went far back enough he would discover he was “African” – leading him to demand reparations for himself, asking: “How much am I getting, if I’m African?”