Sir Keir Starmer has finally spoken out about his resignation in an unusually candid interview with the BBC, and he used the moment to deliver a sharp warning to his likely successor, Andy Burnham.
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With the Prime Minister potentially out of No 10 as soon as 17 July, Starmer made it clear he does not believe a future leader could spend less time on diplomacy than he did. Asked whether a future prime minister could focus more on domestic issues and less on foreign affairs, he replied bluntly: “No, I don’t think it is possible.”
He added that foreign and domestic policy are not separate worlds at all. “There’s often this discussion — what’s the right balance between dealing with international affairs and dealing with domestic affairs? They’re one and the same thing,” he said.
The remarks appeared to carry an unmistakable message for Burnham, who has built his political image around a more northern-focused agenda. The former Greater Manchester mayor is understood to want to spend more time on issues inside the UK, including the cost of living crisis and struggling public services.
Burnham is also planning to base himself more in Manchester as part of his push to establish a No 10 North unit, aimed at shifting more devolved power to the regions across England. But the move has already triggered anger from Reform UK and Tory figures, who accused him of wanting to waste millions of taxpayers’ money to “play Prime Minister in Manchester”.
Starmer’s BBC interview came only weeks after he insisted he would still stand in any future Labour leadership contest. Speaking about his decision to step down, he admitted it was “really, really tough” and said the final call came after spending a weekend with his wife, Victoria, and their teenage children at Chequers.
