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Andy Burnham Appointed UK Prime Minister

Former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister of the UK on July 20.

Burnham took the keys to Number 10 Downing Street following a visit to Buckingham Palace to formally accept the invitation to form a government from King Charles.

Burnham, 56, has become the seventh prime minister of the United Kingdom in just over 10 years, during a tumultuous decade for the country, marked by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring immigration, a rising cost of living, and rising energy prices.

The new prime minister arrived at Downing Street, after leaving the palace, to a throng of cheering supporters.

He then addressed the nation, saying he was “acutely conscious” of the fact he was the seventh incumbent of Number 10 since 2016, calling his ascension a “moment for reflection and new resolution.”

He said that the moment “requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge,” adding that “Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again.”

“I know people at home are fed up with politics,” he said. “I hear you and I want to be honest with you—we have not been good enough, and we need to be better.”

Burnham said that the UK needed “a new political model and a new economic model,” adding that the country had taken some “wrong turns” in the 1980s by centralizing power in the capital and privatizing large swathes of industry.

He promised to “take power” out of London and give it to local areas, “so that they can do more and, in doing more, build a new economy where we put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to you again.”

He said that later this year, he would lay out a “10-year plan” for the country, but that he can “do something to give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living.”

Burnham promised to reform education to improve employment prospects for young people, offer them more mental health support, and build more social housing, but said his first action as prime minister would be to end homelessness in the UK. …

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/andy-burnham-appointed-uk-prime-minister-6064413

>>24847817

> …

“Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again-the moment we bring back hope,” he said, before shaking hands with some of the assembled crowd and entering Number 10 with his wife, Marie-France van Heel.

The new prime minister assumed the role after Starmer officially stepped down the same morning, making his own trip to see the king to relinquish his office, a little over two years after sweeping to power in a landslide general election victory, which saw the left-wing Labour Party form a government for the first time in 14 years.

In his final address to the nation, Starmer said his “work is done.”

“In six and a half years, I took our party from a historic defeat in 2019, changed it so it was fit to face the country upon a landslide general election victory in 2024,” he said.

“Since then, it has been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as prime minister, and I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.”

He further stated that Burnham had his full support and wished him “every success,” as he spoke outside Number 10 for the last time as leader, before going to meet the king.

Starmer announced his resignation as Labour Party leader on June 22, just days after Burnham, who had previously served in the governments of former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before becoming Manchester mayor, returned to the House of Commons after winning a byelection on June 19.

Burnham was crowned the new Labour leader on July 17, after receiving overwhelming support from party lawmakers.

Burnham said at the time that he would “set a direction that is distinctively Labour.”

“We won’t try to out-Green the Greens, or out-Reform Reform, or doing what we’ve done in the past and wear too many Tory clothes,” he said.

First among his duties in the new role will be to appoint a new cabinet, which will indicate his priorities as prime minister.

Burnham’s Plans for Britain

Burnham’s plans for the UK remain largely unknown, though he has given hints since it became clear he would become prime minister.

His camp said on July 19 that Burnham will scrap the country’s controversial digital ID plan, which would have been required for residents to prove they were eligible to work.

“All the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it’s most needed, such as helping with the cost of living,” Burnham’s spokesperson said in a statement.

Digital IDs were first introduced in September 2025 by Starmer, but the idea faced backlash as people feared that it would push the UK toward a surveillance state.

The digital identification cards were initially going to be required for every worker until Starmer dropped the mandatory rule and made it optional in January after pushback.

He is also expected to separately announce plans for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 19.

“The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on July 19.

Trump called it one of the “greatest sources of quality oil on Earth,” saying that it will make the UK “one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World!”

Burnham’s team has not yet confirmed this move, and approving new drilling licenses would be a reversal of a promise made by the Labour Party in its 2024 election manifesto, although fresh drilling under existing licenses was not explicitly ruled out in that pledge.

The Epoch Times reached out to Burnham for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

>>24847732, >>24847673, >>24847817, >>24847775

BREITBART's headline:

Socialist Andy Burnham Installed as British Prime Minister, Announces ‘10-Year Plan’ to Fix Country

Veteran Westminster swamp creature turned ‘King of the North’ political chameleon Andy Burnham has been given the keys to Number 10 Downing Street, officially taking over the office of Prime Minister on Monday after Sir Keir Starmer was forced to resign just over two years after taking power.

The London political churn has spat out another one. Sir Keir Starmer formally resigned as Prime Minister to make way for former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who became the seventh prime minister in a decade, and fifth to take power in less than four years. While Burnham presents as a more personable figure than his predecessor, it remains to be seen how far northern charm will take him and if he can deliver on the key priorities of the British public.

Starmer attempted to hold his head high on Monday morning as he left Downing Street — as opposed to the tearful resignation announcement he delivered last month — claiming that he left the country in a “stronger and fairer” position than it was when he came into office. This was clearly not the opinion of the British public, who delivered Starmer’s Labour Party an electoral drubbing in the local ‘mid-term’ elections in May in favour of Brexit boss Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

The defeat came in the wake of his government failing to return the British economy to growth while imposing the highest tax burden on the nation since the Second World War and having failed to protect the country’s borders, with over 70,000 illegals crossing the English Channel under his watch, the most of any modern prime minister. …

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/07/20/meet-the-new-boss-socialist-andy-burnham-installed-as-british-prime-minister-announces-10-year-plan-to-fix-country/

>>24847948

>Why is everyone so quiet about the China situation?

The Epoch Times

Trump’s CCP Election Interference Claims May Signal Shift in China Policy: Analysts

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a primetime address on July 16 that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been meddling in American elections, revealing that Beijing obtained hundreds of millions of American voter records and used domestic and international networks in an effort to prevent his reelection.

He said the CCP had acquired the personal information of approximately 220 million American voters during the 2020 election cycle and suggested the data could have been used for voter registration-related activities or other unlawful purposes.

Trump also said that Beijing had conducted influence operations targeting his presidency since 2018, including efforts to weaken his electoral support, pressure him to step down, and prevent him from winning another term.

The president said U.S. intelligence agencies had concealed information about Chinese election interference. He said that dozens of reports from the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) concerning Beijing’s activities had not been included in daily intelligence briefings provided to the president.

Trump has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice to investigate the matter. He said officials found to have covered up relevant information would be removed and could face criminal charges.

These disclosures are some of Trump’s most direct accusations against Beijing regarding American election interference and come amid renewed debate in Washington over the long-term direction of U.S.–China relations.

Several experts, including prominent Chinese dissident scholar Yuan Hongbing, said Trump’s remarks could signal a tougher phase in Washington’s approach to Beijing, while also complicating Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s efforts to leverage his relationship with Trump as a source of political capital inside the Chinese regime. …

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trumps-ccp-election-interference-claims-may-signal-shift-in-china-policy-analysts-6063543

>>24848025

Bill Melugin

FBI statement to @FoxNews:

"This morning an individual deployed an incendiary device outside of 26 Federal Plaza. The individual has been taken into custody and the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the incident."

NYPD tells FOX there was a "found firearm" in relation to this event, but couldn't confirm if it was found on the suspect.

Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 @ScooterCasterNY 1h

NOW: Moment of EXPLOSION that went off outside of the 26 Federal Plaza in NYC around 8:30am this morning, with Immigration agents and FBI Rushing out guns drawn and FPS apprehending the suspect. Sidewalk has been shut down and building evacuated.

NYPD on scene confirmed it was a shooting and explosive device, suspect is apprehended. …

1:54 PM · Jul 20, 202641.8KViews

https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2079203258724471267