Bridget Phillipson on Sky News (Image: Sky News)
Cabinet Minister Bridget Phillipson was left squirming in a television interview today as she was questioned about the Prime Minister’s attacks on Donald Trump. Andy Burnham is expected to meet Mr Trump when both leaders attend a meeting of the United Nations general assembly in New York. Issues on the agenda are set to include the ongoing war in Ukraine, the war in the gulf, the future of the NATO military alliance, the Falklands and trade, including Mr Trump’s tariffs.
But the Prime Minister has previously been a staunch critic of the US President – and once said he would not be welcome in Manchester, where Mr Burnham was mayor. Sky News presenter Kamal Ahmed asked Ms Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, how the President was likely to respond to that. The Labour MP began by saying: “What the Prime Minister will do is, he’ll make sure that he always puts our national interest first. But having a good and strong and pragmatic relationship with one of our closest allies, the US, is incredibly important. And that’s what we’ll see from our Prime Minister.”
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Mr Ahmed told her: “Now, we know that a number of your colleagues in the Labour Party, if you went through their social media feeds, there may be some rather uncomfortable comments before they got into government about the president of the United States.
“We had a look at what Andy Burnham had said previously about the president of the United States in 2021, your new prime minister said: ‘Any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now.’ In 2019, he said he wouldn’t be welcome in Manchester.
“Isn’t that going to make it a little bit awkward? And the reason I say awkward is because whatever you say now publicly, our viewers know that Labour generally is very uncomfortable with the president of the United States. But you can’t tell people the truth about how you feel”
Mrs Phillipson responded: “Look, I think what you’ve just described there is politics. The president knows that. This is not far from unique.
“And people will express views at different points on different topics. And that’s no bar to having a strong relationship.
“And the reason that matters is because the US is someone that is essential to our ability to share intelligence, to work together on defence, whether that’s Ukraine and much, much more besides.
“That will be at the forefront of Andy Burnham’s mind when he meets President Trump face to face. But of course, there are differences of opinion.
“We don’t have the same political outlook, but the relationship between the UK and the US goes beyond any one president, any one prime minister. It’s something that has stood the test of time over many centuries despite political differences. They come and go. What matters most is the British national interest.”
Mr Ahmed told her: “I was quite interested in that use of ‘well, that’s just politics’. Are you saying to the public, therefore people will just say things and if they’re not true in three months time or six months time or three years time, oh, shucks, that’s just politics.”
The Labour Minister responded: “Politics is also about being pragmatic, and it’s also about being rooted in what’s best for the country.
“And what is best for our country is having a relationship with the US where we can engage in that defence intelligence sharing, where we can have a strong relationship on lots and lots of areas, whether that’s on the economy as well. Does that mean we always agree on everything? No.
“Again, that’s what I mean about it being politics. There will be differences. We come from different political traditions. We have different approaches. But ultimately what matters most is our ability to stand together, as has been the case over a long, long period of time.”
Labour Minister Challenged on Sky News – “You Can’t Tell People the Truth!”
A Labour cabinet minister faced a pointed exchange on Sky News after being questioned about Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s previous criticism of Donald Trump and whether the government’s current approach to the US president represents a genuine change of position.
Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, was challenged by Sky News presenter Kamal Ahmed over comments Burnham made before becoming prime minister. The interview took place ahead of Burnham’s expected meeting with Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The exchange centred on a familiar problem in politics: whether politicians can strongly criticise another leader while in opposition and then establish a pragmatic working relationship with that same leader once they enter government.
Ahmed quoted several previous remarks attributed to Burnham, including comments from 2021 in which he said that any UK politician giving Trump “the time of day” should be ashamed. He also referred to Burnham’s earlier statement that Trump would not be welcome in Manchester.
Phillipson defended the government’s current approach, arguing that political disagreements do not prevent countries from maintaining important diplomatic and security relationships.
The Sky News challenge
The interview became tense when Ahmed questioned whether Burnham’s previous comments would make his meeting with Trump awkward.
Phillipson began by emphasising what she described as the national interest.
She said Burnham would ensure that Britain’s national interest came first and argued that maintaining a strong and pragmatic relationship with the United States was essential.
Ahmed then brought up Burnham’s historical comments.
He pointed out that Labour politicians had made strongly critical statements about Trump before entering government and asked whether those remarks would now create difficulties.