The Trump-shaped problems awaiting Britain's new PM Burnham
As UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham shifts focus from domestic issues to foreign policy, he faces a series of decisions that could strain relations with US President Donald Trump. A possible first face-to-face meeting is expected in late September in New York.
As the British parliament returns Tuesday from its summer recess, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is turning from the domestic issues that dominated his first weeks in office — jobs, living costs and homelessness — to a stack of foreign policy decisions that could complicate ties with US President Donald Trump.
British officials are preparing for a possible first face-to-face meeting between Burnham and Trump in late September, tied to Burnham's plan to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York. A possible White House visit on the same trip is also being explored, depending on Trump's schedule.
Several thorny issues
One of the toughest calls concerns whether to allow oil and gas drilling in two of the North Sea's last major untapped fields, Jackdaw and Rosebank. A final decision is expected in September. Trump has repeatedly pushed Britain to drill, while Green party supporters and environmental campaigners oppose the move amid one of the UK's driest summers on record.
On defense spending, new finance minister John Healey, who had earlier quit as defense secretary demanding faster spending increases, has now as chancellor declined to commit to a firm timeline for reaching 3 percent of GDP, pushing the decision into a 2027 spending review.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is expected to soon update parliament on Britain's response to Israel's E1 settlement project in the West Bank, with some expecting an announcement of sanctions — a move that risks friction with Washington.
Burnham chose Ukraine for his first foreign trip and plans to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in London, as he seeks to help address a shortage of Patriot missile interceptors worsened by the conflict between the US and Iran.
The long-delayed handover of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which Trump has criticized since February, remains stalled, creating tension with both Mauritius and India.
Meanwhile, talks continue on technology and trade issues, including Britain's digital services tax, which has repeatedly drawn Trump's ire.
