{"id":1105794,"date":"2026-07-23T03:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1105794\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T03:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:09:22","slug":"burnham-to-meet-swinney-for-first-time-as-prime-minister-during-scotland-visit-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1105794\/","title":{"rendered":"Burnham to meet Swinney for first time as Prime Minister during Scotland visit \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham will meet with First Minister John Swinney during his visit to Scotland for the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first in-person meeting between the Scottish and UK leaders since Mr Burnham became Prime Minister on Monday.<\/p>\n

The Labour leader signalled he did not want to discuss the prospect of another independence referendum with the SNP leader.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham will arrive in Glasgow on Thursday to watch the opening ceremony for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where he will be joined by the King and Queen.<\/p>\n

\"No<\/a>\"River<\/a><\/p>\n

He will also meet the First Minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst Minister John Swinney spoke to Andy Burnham over the phone on Tuesday morning (Jane Barlow\/PA) <\/p>\n

The UK Government has said Mr Burnham would set out how he plans to work \u201ccollaboratively\u201d with devolved governments \u201cbased on a genuine partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister said: \u201cWhen I say we need good growth in every postcode, I mean every postcode across the whole of the UK. Every place and every person matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not focused on point scoring or discussing constitutional changes like referendums, I want practical measures to help people live well and bring back hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m giving families more breathing space with\u00a0help on\u00a0the cost of living, which I have started this week by taking VAT off electricity bills, saving money for millions of households.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AndyAndy Burnham will meet Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth on Thursday (Matthew Horwood\/Welsh Government\/PA) <\/p>\n

The PM is expected to meet with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland on his tour of the UK in August, where he will visit areas across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.<\/p>\n

Thursday will mark Mr Burnham\u2019s second conversation with Mr Swinney.<\/p>\n

During a phone call with the Scottish leader on Tuesday morning, Mr Burnham is said to have shut down the prospect of a second independence referendum, with a UK Government source saying the PM told the First Minister they will have to \u201cagree to disagree\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood Mr Burnham, who has said he wants to devolve more powers throughout the UK, pledged to work with the Scottish Government to deliver a \u201cnew kind of politics\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, Swinney has signalled he does not want to work with Douglas Alexander, the Scottish Secretary, after Mr Burnham decided to keep him in the post.<\/p>\n

The First Minister told the Press Association he would rather deal with the Prime Minister one-on-one, having accused Mr Alexander of souring relations between the UK and Scottish governments.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham\u2019s visit to Scotland marks a change from his successor, with Sir Keir Starmer choosing not to campaign in Scotland for the Holyrood election.<\/p>\n

Scottish Labour figures have pointed to Sir Keir as the reason for the party\u2019s Holyrood election results in May \u2013 its worst in the history of devolution.<\/p>\n

Mr Burnham is poised to make Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar a minister, a move that will see him leave the Scottish Parliament and head to the House of Lords.<\/p>\n

The First Minister of Wales said: \u201cI look forward to meeting the Prime Minister in Glasgow today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fitting that we meet in Scotland, as it underlines Wales\u2019 case for parity of powers and a fairer funding model that reflects our needs.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Number 10 North\u2019 must not become just Whitehall with a different postcode. I agree wholeheartedly on empowering communities \u2013 it\u2019s at the heart of my politics \u2013 but decisions affecting Wales should be made in Wales, and it is for the Welsh Government and our Senedd to work with the people of Wales on how power is exercised and shared within our nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when families are still feeling the pressure of the cost of living, I am also keen to discuss how our governments can work together as equal partners to deliver improvements to the lives of people in Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham will meet with First Minister John Swinney during his visit to Scotland for the Commonwealth Games.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1105795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[218969,31136,8916,748,101729,918,4884,210591,7852,12,1144,285,252190,712,11312,18695,16,10788,15,1764],"class_list":["post-1105794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-2026-commonwealth-games","tag-anas-sarwar","tag-andy-burnham","tag-britain","tag-douglas-alexander","tag-glasgow","tag-great-britain","tag-holyrood-election","tag-john-swinney","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-politics","tag-rhun-ap-iorwerth","tag-scotland","tag-scottish-government","tag-scottish-labour","tag-uk","tag-uk-government","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116967098844322306","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1105794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1105795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1105794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1105794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1105794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}