Europe doesn’t need to worry about Andy Burnham. He has the makings of a great ally | Jessica Berlin

Politics The Guardian By Jessica Berlin 07 Jul 2026 14:54 1 min read

Defence strategists fret about the next PM’s inexperience. But he knows about local resilience. That’s the kind of skill Nato urgently needs I recently asked a senior Labour figure what Andy Burnham’s defence agenda might look like. “He doesn’t really have one,” came the reply – offered not so much as a criticism of the UK’s prime minister in waiting, as a statement of fact. Given that Keir Starmer’s resignation came after a mutiny within his own government over inadequate defence spending, some

Defence strategists fret about the next PM’s inexperience. But he knows about local resilience. That’s the kind of skill Nato urgently needs

I recently asked a senior Labour figure what Andy Burnham’s defence agenda might look like. “He doesn’t really have one,” came the reply – offered not so much as a criticism of the UK’s prime minister in waiting, as a statement of fact. Given that Keir Starmer’s resignation came after a mutiny within his own government over inadequate defence spending, some may view Burnham’s lack of direct defence experience as a worrying liability.

But beyond the UK, Starmer was at least viewed as a statesman for his commitment to the defence of Ukraine. Leaders in western Europe’s other capitals may now fear that Starmer’s untested successor will be more focused on “No 10 North” than on Nato and European security.

Jessica Berlin is a strategy adviser and a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis

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