EU delays UK reset summit as Burnham prepares to take power
Keir Starmer is handing power to Andy Burnham, prompting the EU to delay a key reset summit and leaving the incoming prime minister a £5bn annual defence funding shortfall.
MPs approved the long-delayed Hillsborough law on Monday night, but the legislation marked a symbolic changing of the guard. Andy Burnham will become Labour leader on Friday and prime minister on Monday, replacing Keir Starmer who announced his departure after Burnham's victory in the Makerfield byelection.
The transition is already rippling across the continent. The EU announced it is delaying its second "reset" summit with the UK, concluding it should wait for a new prime minister who may bring different priorities to the table.
The outgoing prime minister has approached his final days with a sudden energy that has puzzled some of his own MPs, who wonder why he did not govern this assertively earlier in his tenure.
Before his exit, Starmer moved to secure his legacy with a flurry of international and domestic policy. He committed the UK to the EU’s €90bn (£78bn) support package for Ukraine, a move that stands to benefit British defence firms. He also finally delivered a long-promised defence investment plan, though this leaves Burnham to find an extra £5bn a year to fund it—a significant strain on the public finances.
Starmer also moved to smooth over tensions with Donald Trump at a Nato summit in Ankara and signed a trade deal with Switzerland. These agreements will shape the economic landscape Burnham inherits. However, the delayed EU summit suggests Brussels prefers to wait and negotiate its broader economic relationship directly with the new administration.
Domestically, Starmer announced a social media ban for under-16s in the days before Burnham returned to parliament. Burnham, meanwhile, has immediately signalled a shift in tone on immigration, backing Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's changes to refugee settlement while pressing for the deportation of a notorious grooming gang ringleader.
For European investors and diplomats, the handover closes a period of uncertainty but opens a new one. The Hillsborough law, which establishes a legal duty of candour for public officials, framed this transition. "It truly is a rewiring of the state and a passing of power from the authorities to the hands of ordinary people," Burnham told MPs.
