One thing that won’t change is the use of British bases by American military aircraft bombing Iran. On 21 July, Bloomberg reported that Burnham ‘was informed of the discussion and agreed with the decision taken’. A YouGov poll published on 22 July shows how unpopular Burnham’s position is. Burnham’s position – opposing the war while allowing the US military to use British bases – ‘flies in the face of British public opinion’, Rentoul says. In March, he wrote that Starmer’s position – opposing the war while allowing the US military to use British bases – deserved ‘credit’ from ‘the British people’.