What did Prime Minister Andy Burnham of the United Kingdom say at the UN General Assembly (UNGA 81)?

He addressed the general debate on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, as the fifteenth speaker of the afternoon session.

The speech in brief

• Britain is back. He drew a line under the decade since Brexit, promising stability and a stronger economy.
• Russian lies. The Kremlin spends about £1.3 billion a year manipulating information, he said, and he announced a National Centre for Information Defence.
• AI. AI will be central to the UK’s G20 presidency, and he announced a new AI defence partnership with the United States.
• Ukraine. The UK will stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
• Gaza and the West Bank. Too many deaths, too little aid, and Israel’s E1 settlement plan “cannot be allowed to happen”. He also said the UK stands with Israel against threats from Iran.
• Climate. He called it a national security threat.

In his own words

Britain is back. We are restoring our stability. Building a more dynamic economy.

“Today I am tasking our security chiefs to begin work on a new National Centre for Information Defence.”

“The Kremlin spends around £1.3 billion each year on manipulating information.”

“I can announce today that I am going to put AI at the heart of the UK’s G20 Presidency next year.”

• On Gaza: “Far too many people have died”, including “so many children”, and “far too little aid is getting in.”

“Count on us to meet fear and division with unity and hope.”

That day

• He met President Trump for more than half an hour. Trump praised him but called the Chagos Islands deal “a terrible deal”.

Watch and read the full speech

The UN’s own video of the whole Day 1 session:

Watch Day 1 of the UNGA 81 general debate on the UN’s YouTube channel

Read the full text on GOV.UK.

The UN posts the statement on its general debate website.

Every Day 1 speaker, in order: What happened on Day 1 of UNGA 81.