UK's Burnham heads to UN

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will argue on Tuesday for Britain to play a leadership role on AI, in a speech capping his first foray into global diplomacy when he hopes to showcase the connection he has with US President Donald Trump.



On the way to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Burnham was keen to underline the common ground he said he had found with Trump over artificial intelligence, with both championing its benefits while weighing the risk of a technology many fear is developing unchecked.



Burnham, a former mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England with limited experience of foreign affairs, is expected to meet Trump for the first time on Tuesday, and has set out a different approach to his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who went out of his way to win over the US leader.



Instead, Burnham has said he will disagree with Trump if it is in hisBritain's interest, while also describing himself as someone "who tries to work with people".

One area the British leader said they could find agreement was AI, with both wanting to "find that point of balance here, not all of a sudden turn against and become ... a doom-monger about AI". Trump has dismissed warnings about AI risks as a "hoax".