“But as it was for his predecessor, the navigation of the interaction with the President on Ukraine, Israel, defense, immigration, energy and the rest will be a high wire act and intensely scrutinized by his party.“
As we enter the third week of the new administration in the UK, BritishAmerican Business members are trying to work out what the economic agenda of Prime Minister Burnham’s government is going to mean for them.
For a full analysis of the economic and business approach we will need to wait until the budget, likely to be sometime in October, but we can already detect signals from the administration that imply further government spending.
How this spending will be financed will be a critical choice for the new government after two years in which the bulk of the additional burden of tax increases have fallen squarely on the shoulders of business, we are hoping that a different approach will be taken. It almost goes without saying that those of us who might suggest that government could spend less, are going to be disappointed.
Whatever one’s views about the political direction of the new government there is already a welcome change in style. Frankly put, Andy Burnham comes across as a likable bloke and a natural communicator. I met him on several occasions while he was the mayor of Greater Manchester, including when he spoke at our annual policy conference, and he is hard not to like.
I was in Washington on the 20th of July, the day that Mr. Burnham became Prime Minister, for a reception that we held for a visiting delegation of MPs from the British-American Parliamentary Group led by speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. In my remarks, I recognized that Mr. Burnham had already committed himself to be a pro-business Prime Minister and the very positive fact that he held his first call with an overseas leader with President Trump within an hour of being appointed by the King.
Aside from this being a first-class diplomatic outcome for the excellent team at the embassy in Washington, this is a very positive signal and a crucial one for the UK. Regardless of political perspective, the relationship with the US remains of paramount importance not just because of the incredibly close security and intelligence partnership but because the economies are so intertwined and mutually dependent. As it was for his predecessor, the navigation of the interaction with the President on Ukraine, Israel, defense, immigration, energy and the rest will be a high wire act and intensely scrutinized by his party.
It was great to see so many of our Washington-based members at the reception as well as some who had made the trip from New York and London. Remarks came from congressional reps Bob Latta and Jason Crow as well as from the Ambassador, Sir Christian Turner and from Sir Lindsay. As always, we wish the new administration in the UK the very best and will continue to provide constructive feedback and policy advice on behalf of our members.
Which brings me to our latest policy paper on UK tech sovereignty and the case for a deeper transatlantic digital alliance which you can read here. The scale, depth and breadth of US-owned technology that is embedded in the UK means that this is a legitimate and appropriate issue for discussion, but too often the commentary seems both ill-informed and highly political.
BAB CEO Duncan Edwards & Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the 2023 BABN Transatlantic Conference
Our paper unpacks tech sovereignty into its constituent parts to understand where independence is either possible or desirable; it concludes that the UK’s unique partnership with the USA should be seen as an asset rather than a liability. But as we point out, this partnership needs firmer foundations than the ephemeral goodwill of an individual government and we argue for binding commitments between The US and the UK to reassure politicians and businesses on the issues they are concerned with.
If you have views about this topic please feel free to get in touch as we are keen to hear from every constituency of our members.
Our convening program will now take a short break for August, but we will be back with a bang in September with a full program of events in London New York City and Washington, which you can see here, and I hope to see many of you then. In the meantime, enjoy the summer!