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Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says

Labour chair Bridget Phillipson dismisses past comments as 'politics' ahead of leaders' meeting.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Andy Burnham will come face-to-face with the US President early this week

What this story says

  • Prime Minister Andy Burnham's past criticism of Donald Trump will not impede a strong UK-US relationship, Labour chair Bridget Phillipson stated.
  • Phillipson described Burnham's previous comments about Trump as 'politics', suggesting they are not a barrier to cooperation.
  • Burnham and President Trump have spoken by phone at least twice since Burnham took office in July.
  • The two leaders are expected to meet in person next week at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Who covered it

Left 67%(4)Centre 33%(2)Right 0%(0)

Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 8 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

68/100

Craft

95/100

Hype

28/100

8 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham's past critical remarks about Donald Trump will not prevent a strong relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, according to Labour chair Bridget Phillipson. Phillipson, speaking on Sunday, characterised Burnham's previous comments as 'politics', asserting they are not an obstacle to bilateral ties.

Burnham, who entered Downing Street in July, has spoken with President Trump by phone on at least two occasions. The Prime Minister and the US President are scheduled to meet face-to-face next week during the UN General Assembly in New York. Burnham has previously defended his outspokenness, stating he has a habit of saying what he feels and will continue to do so while seeking common ground.

Differing views on Trump criticism

The Daily Mirror reported that in 2021, Burnham posted on X that any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson told Sky News that these past remarks were 'politics' and not a bar to a strong relationship. The Evening Standard also reported Phillipson stating that people express views at different points on different topics, and this is not a bar to a strong relationship. The Independent (US) digest stated that the Minister for Women and Equality and head of Britain's Labour Party, Bridget Philippson, assured that Burnham's previous critical comments would not interfere with the upcoming meeting.

What the coverage left out

No reports from the right-rated outlets covered this story. The digests from Nation.Cymru and The Independent (US) did not mention the specific date of Burnham's 2021 X post, nor did they detail the content of the phone calls between Burnham and Trump. The Evening Standard digest did not mention the specific date of the 2021 X post, nor did it detail the content of the phone calls between Burnham and Trump.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 20 Sept 2026, 18:15, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says
Evening StandardCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

4 rated outlets

  • The left-rated reports led on Bridget Phillipson's assertion that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's past criticism of Donald Trump would be 'no bar' to a strong US-UK relationship. The Daily Mirror and The Independent (US) highlighted Burnham's 2021 social media post where he stated any UK politician giving Trump the time of day should be ashamed. The Daily Mirror quoted Phillipson describing these past comments as 'politics'. Perspectivemedia.com's digest also focused on Phillipson's statement that past criticism was 'politics' and 'no bar to having a strong relationship'.

Centre

2 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on Bridget Phillipson's statement that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's past criticism of Donald Trump was 'politics' and would not be a barrier to a strong relationship. The Evening Standard reported Phillipson's comments to Sky News, noting the upcoming face-to-face meeting at the UN General Assembly. iNews's digest highlighted the 'six words' that could save Burnham's meeting with Trump, though the digest did not specify what those words were.

Right

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says?
Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 8. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says biased?
Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Burnham's past Trump criticism 'no bar' to US-UK ties, minister says?
8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What did Bridget Phillipson say about Andy Burnham's past criticism of Donald Trump?
Bridget Phillipson, Labour chair, stated that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's past criticism of Donald Trump was 'politics' and would not be a bar to a strong UK-US relationship. She suggested that people express views at different times and that this does not prevent a strong bilateral connection.
When are Andy Burnham and Donald Trump expected to meet?
Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Donald Trump are expected to meet face-to-face next week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. They have spoken by phone at least twice since Burnham became Prime Minister in July.
Did Andy Burnham previously criticise Donald Trump?
Yes, Andy Burnham previously criticised Donald Trump. According to The Daily Mirror, in 2021, Burnham posted on X that any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed. He has also defended his past remarks, stating he has a habit of saying what he feels.

Read it at the source

8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

4

Centre

2

Right

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Not rated

2

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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