‘I KNOW ANDY’ Ireland backs new PM Burnham and offers support for closer UK-EU ties

[00:00:00]Well, I know Andy, um, and I wish Prime Minister Burnham well.

[00:00:03]Uh, met him here a number of times. I've met him here uh, in this building as well. He knows Ireland well and Ireland knows him well. Uh, he is an experienced uh, politician, um, who made a point when he was mayor along with the mayor of Liverpool of visiting here and really building and strengthening links uh, both with national governments and with local governments. So, I wish I wish Andy Burnham well. Uh, I certainly hope I I I expect that we will see a continuation of the major reset that took place in UK uh, Ireland relations when Prime Minister Starmer uh, came to office. I spoke to him on his first day in office as the Taoiseach.

[00:00:35]Uh, we had a conversation about immediately resetting and we worked really hard to do that. Micheál Martin has continued that work and built on that as well. I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday. Um, there are important issues that we've got to work really closely on together. Um, you know, a closer relationship for the UK with the EU is in the UK's interest in my humble opinion. It's in the EU's interest and it's in Ireland's interest.

[00:00:56]We remain ready to to support there. The very good work that's been done on the legacy uh, is important too. Uh, I know Minister McEntee uh, is working on that.

[00:01:04]So, there's a lot of good work underway.

[00:01:06]I think the annual UK Ireland summits, we've had two of them now. I hope they continue as well. I've no reason to believe they won't, which is so yeah, a lot of good work has been done to get the relationship to probably the best place it's been in since Brexit if not even better uh, than before that and we just got to keep that momentum going as we head towards the the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and then off to distant future.

[00:01:25]>> Okay.

[00:01:26]>> Thanks everybody. Have a good day.

[00:01:26]>> much.

[00:01:27]>> We had a very warm conversation uh, Prime Minister Andy Burnham and I.

[00:01:30]We discussed a wide range of issues. We look forward to an early meeting uh, and we discuss how we discuss sorry, the uh, relationship between Britain and Ireland particularly in terms of the annual summits that we now hold that will continue.

[00:01:44]And also focusing on issues like energy uh, for example and kind of be complimentary there and other policies on the cultural economic side.

[00:01:53]Um, in terms of uh, Northern Ireland legacy, we did discuss that which is important that we bring that to a conclusion. I think it's a historic opportunity to get legacy done.

[00:02:04]Um, and we and I made those points to to Andy.

[00:02:07]Um, and also then um, the broader international situation and the European Union United Kingdom relationship in particular, which I think is important for Europe. It's important for United Kingdom and Ireland.

[00:02:18]>> You are bringing back Boris Johnson's policy of the £2 cap on bus fares. Is that really going to make a difference to people struggling with their finances?

[00:02:27]>> It was actually my policy originally as mayor of Greater Manchester, but I worked with Boris uh, to take it uh, national.

[00:02:35]Uh, and it was hugely popular because it's simple, but it saves people money every day. Um, so I think it will really help people with the cost of living pressures they're facing. It's there for the whole of 2027.

[00:02:50]Uh, and I think it will put money in people's pockets.

[00:02:53]>> And the wider spending priorities of your government, you've said you're committed to the fiscal rules, yet you've already said you want to reform social care, you want to build more council houses, you've committed to spending more money on defense. Are you going to be honest with the public that you can't do those things you're promising without either more borrowing or raising taxes?

[00:03:16]>> I will always be honest with the public.

[00:03:17]It's my style.

[00:03:19]Uh, this week the three of policies I've announced uh, ending rough sleeping um, the >> cap >> the bus cap we're announcing today and the removal of VAT off electricity bills are all fully funded. Uh, and that's the way I will go and people will say, "Well, how?" I've reprioritized. The public's priority is reducing cost of living pressures.

[00:03:43]Uh, and that's what I'm doing. I'm taking a difficult look at some of the things that the government was committed to, digital ID being one example, and reprioritizing. And I think that's what people would expect me to do coming into this job. When you talk about council housing, um it's about putting greater priority on council housing. The government had already allocated 39 billion to housing over 10 years.

[00:04:09]My instruction on coming into this job is to spend a greater proportion of that funding on new council housing because that gives the biggest return on investment than anything else.

[00:04:21]>> But it is going to be in tax rises come the budget, isn't it?

[00:04:24]>> No. You'll take decisions on tax at the budget. This is about re-prioritizing in this phase. As I say, going to the public's priorities, the cost of living crisis, the housing crisis. How much longer are we going to talk about these things without actually doing something to help people. And already in the space of a few days, I've made a number of moves that will deal with some of these challenges, although I appreciate there's a lot more to do.

[00:04:53]>> You also said on Monday that the complaint you heard most often on the doorstep was about the freezing of the personal tax allowance. So, are you going to do something about that or not?

[00:05:02]>> Well, it's funny these days you can't answer a question honestly without then people reading everything else into it.

[00:05:08]It It was >> Prime Minister.

[00:05:09]>> It was Yes, but I want to answer questions honestly in this job as I said before.

[00:05:16]I think that's all about trust in politics and doing politics differently.

[00:05:20]And I'm determined to keep keep working in that way. It was raised a lot, but I then went on to say, "But we'll have to look at it at the budget alongside everything else." So, no commitment, no no unfunded promise. You know, it's it's just perhaps the way politics is these days and the way people report things.

[00:05:41]But that was an honest answer. There is no commitment at this point to change, but we will look at that at the budget.

[00:05:48]>> Another thing you promised was an end to factionalism. You said that on the steps of number 10. You then went in to Downing Street and you sacked 11 members of Kier Starmer's cabinet, those who had been most loyal to him. You also promoted those who hastened his end. Do you acknowledge that's created a lot of bad blood?

[00:06:10]>> Though I spoke personally to everybody involved, I explained my decisions to them.

[00:06:18]Obviously, many people who were serving in Kier's cabinet are still in their positions today.

[00:06:25]Harriet Harman has done a brilliant job on public transport.

[00:06:29]Pat McFadden, Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary. So, obviously, there's a need to bring in change to give the government that new direction that I've called for. That's just the reality of politics.

[00:06:43]It's not about factionalism. And in fact, the way I've dealt with it shows that. It is about building a team that reflects all sides of the Labour Party at the highest level so everybody can see themselves represented within it.

[00:06:57]And that's what I've I've constructed.

[00:06:59]>> And Prime Minister, just finally, is it acceptable for members of your cabinet to be joking about the early release of prisoners at a time when people like the mother of PC Harper are desperately worried about the early release of her son's killers?

[00:07:13]>> No, it's not. And certainly, that's been acknowledged and apologies have been made. On the broader issue, I I feel for the family, it's an appalling crime that was committed. The main perpetrator will not be uh subject to any early release. Of course, others involved have have potentially been identified. But I've spoken to the new Justice Secretary. We will review the policy together and make further statements in due course.

[00:07:47]>> I'm interested.

[00:07:47]>> Uh but, we also want to set the tone at the top in relation [clears throat] to our relationship with our colleagues in the civil service in our in your departments.

[00:07:57]Getting that working relationship right and also making feel that feel like it's a one team approach. Everybody pulling in the same direction, respecting each other cuz then we'll deliver more for the people we're here to here to serve and here to help. Life's hard out there, isn't it, at the moment? You heard me talk about the doorstep in Makerfield.

[00:08:22]We need to every day think, "Well, what can we do just to take that little bit of pressure off people's shoulders, just to give them that little extra sense that help is coming so they can have that bit of bit of hope that things are are getting better." And that's the mission that we've got to set ourselves together.

[00:08:45]And later in the discussion, I think it would be great to hear from from all of you in terms of what your department can do around cost of living cuz there are things that can be done big and small.

[00:08:58]And it would be just really good to have that discussion. We need to be a cost of living government and getting that cost of living down and looking at all possible ways of of doing that. I talked yesterday outside in Downing Street about bringing back hope. And that's got to be us, isn't it? We've got to do that. We can do that.

[00:09:24]And we've made a start today.

[00:09:26]We made the announcement about removing VAT from household electricity bills.

[00:09:35]It's not everything, uh but it shows our determination [clears throat] to do something about people's living standards and it kind of points the way for further measures that that we hope to take to take that pressure off people.

[00:09:51]But also, it comes with reprioritization.

[00:09:54]And you'll have seen what I've said about digital ID. In these times in which we're living, we have to take a really hard look at what our priorities are and if we're to deliver on the cost of living and reducing the pressure, then we've got to be prepared to reprioritize.

[00:10:13]We've got to show fiscal discipline.

[00:10:16]We've got to show that our commitment to the fiscal rules is real and we're prepared to make difficult uh decisions in relation to that. And know you all understand that, but it's just crucial, isn't it? It will require us to be disciplined together and to make those choices together. But I know I've got a team who will back me in doing that and I also have a chancellor who will be looking over my shoulder all of the time in relation to that.