Will Trump be Burnham’s undoing, or the making of him? The answer lies in Europe | Jonathan Freedland
📰 source: theguardian_business · 📚 research
andy burnham's first 10 days as uk prime minister have gone well, with his net approval up 17 points. but a 'looming pall' from donald trump threatens to spoil it. starmer watched growth crushed after trump combined with israel to attack iran, and burnham could suffer the same fate.
the column argues the answer is to stop relying on washington and turn to europe. eu members are already pooling resources: the safe loan programme funds €150bn of joint defence procurement, and germany plans to spend only 8% of its €80bn rearmament on us weapons. britons are ahead of their leaders: an ecfr survey found 63% would prioritise the eu over the us (19% the reverse), and three-quarters now call brexit a disaster.
the suggested 'burnhamism abroad' means breaking atlanticist orthodoxy, reindustrialising via european defence spending, and ultimately undoing the folly of 2016. whether trump makes or breaks burnham depends on how fast he moves toward europe.
why it matters: burnham's likely pivot toward eu over atlanticism could reshape uk defence, trade and post-brexit relations.
source: theguardian_business
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