Burnham says he will stand up to Trump if UK interests require it

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was ready to stand up to US President Donald Trump when doing so served Britain's interests, Report informs, citing the BBC.

In an interview with the broadcaster, excerpts of which were published today, Burnham said he would always put Britain's interests first and would be prepared to tell Trump when he believed the US president was wrong.

He said all leaders had to defend their national interests above everything else if they wanted to do the job properly.

Burnham's predecessor, Keir Starmer, who left office last month, had tense relations with Trump, who criticized him over disagreements on the US-Israeli war against Iran, immigration, energy and technology regulation.

Although Trump initially described Starmer's successor as "very liberal," he later said he had held a "very good conversation" with Burnham.

The British prime minister also ruled out calling an early general election before 2029, saying he did not believe the public wanted one.

Burnham also reaffirmed Britain's commitment to agreements with NATO allies. He said the government's main task was to ensure full funding for the defense investment plan before next year's budget and added that London would take steps to bring defense spending to 3% of GDP.