‘Andy Burnham’s first assembly with Donald Trump had a giant distinction from Starmer’s’

Andy Burnham managed to get away with saying the meeting went well, without lavishing Donald Trump himself with praise – a big change from Keit Starmer’s opening gambit

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Andy Burnham’s first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump could hardly have gone much better.

Sitting down with a leader so historically unpopular – both at home and among British voters – yet who has the power to cause huge headaches internationally was never going to be strightforward.

And while the PM’s body language suggested he was not remotely comfortable, the exchanges were polite verging on friendly.

Trump paid Burnham a few compliments – and drew a line under his falling out with Keir Starmer, saying relations with Britain were “on the up” under the new management.

And Burnham managed to get away with saying the meeting went well without lavishing Trump himself with praise – a big change from Starmer’s opening gambit.

He even got the chance to talk up Manchester to the US President.

On the Chagos deal there was a moment of disagreement, but it didn’t last long.

And there will be some who would have preferred a little more pushback from the PM. Burnham said nothing when Trump justified his unlawful expulsion of several news outlets from the White House, branding them “fake news” because he objects to their coverage.

And there was no attempt to encourage Trump to back away from his threat to wipe the Iranian civilisation off the face of the Earth. Not in front of the cameras anyway.

But there was no big blow-up. No angry or terse exchanges.

By the end of it Burnham looked like he needed to find a Manhattan bar for a very stiff drink, but it seemed to go …fine. And that’s really all you can hope for.

Burnham deals with naysayer Ratcliffe

Before he had chance to stand up for Britain with the US President, Andy Burnham had to deal with a noisy naysayer back home.

Billionaire footie baron and tax exile Jim Ratcliffe spent the weekend moaning to anyone who would listen that his former home is “on the slide”.

But on his way to fly the flag in New York, the PM rubbished that idea – reminding Ratcliffe our country has a fast growing economy and lots to be proud of.

Nobody needs to hear a very wealthy man complaining that rich people have it too hard. If Jim doesn’t like it, he can move to Monaco. Oh, hang on, he already did that.

Brits don’t need to be coddled. We all know times are hard and things could be better.

But a bit of hope for the future goes a long way, and Andy Burnham recognises that.

Now he needs to keep ignoring the grumpy fat cats rattling their jewellery and keep things moving in the right direction.

Cruise control

Tom Cruise must have some mystical power to control the passage of time. Not only does he stubbornly refuse to physically age, but despite having a work schedule few in Hollywood could keep up with, he still finds the time to spend ages signing autographs for fans before his movie premieres.

He worked some of his magic in Leicester Square last night – arriving two hours early for the opening of new movie Digger. He was still posing for pictures when the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived to make it a real royal premiere.