Andy Burnham jammed a song by The Smith on guitar with a Ukrainian soldier during a visit to Kyiv. Watch below.
Burnham is currently on his first visit to Ukraine as Prime Minister, and yesterday (Monday August 24) he went to the country’s military and artistic unit, who perform on the front lines, in hospitals and at rehabilitation centres.
While visiting the unit’s mobile recording studio, Burnham was handed a guitar by a soldier and began to play the riff from ‘Rusholme Ruffians’, from the band’s iconic 1985 album ‘Meat is Murder’.
“I’m out of practice, a little bit,” the Prime Minister said while playing, explaining afterwards: “It’s a song by a Manchester band called The Smiths.”
Soldiers also sang an Oasis song for Burnham, as per the Independent.
Burnham said during his visit that music can help “lift spirits” on the front line. Watch the moment below.
Burnham has spoken about his love of music – particularly the Manchester music scene – many times over the years, and even got permission from Oasis to use their hit song ‘Some Might Say’ in a by-election campaign video.
Back in 2021, the MP also gave a shout out to The Courteeners during his Greater Manchester mayoral election victory speech, quoting ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and telling the crowd: “God bless the band. If you know, you know…”
Last month, he also ranked his favourite bands, which included The Smiths, Oasis and Wolf Alice.
Around the time Burnham entered 10 Downing Street, the government revealed a new ‘Music Plan’, designed to bolster their growth package by £15million to a total of £45million.
MPs said that it would benefit over 40,000 artists and businesses, 2,000 projects and millions of children over three years – hopefully enabling more people from working class backgrounds to enter the world of music.
Burnham has been widely supportive of grassroots music venues over the years and has also backed the call for a £1 ticket levy to be introduced on gigs at arena level and above, paying back into the pipeline for rising artists and grassroots spaces.
There is now pressure on the PM to work on removing expensive, prohibitive barriers of the post-Brexit touring crisis, as well as crack down on the copyright exceptions in relation to AI and make good on the Government’s previous promises to ban ticket touts.
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, members of Massive Attack, and Robert Smith of The Cure and more have also recently called on Burnham and the UK government to block the proposed development of the controversial new Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.
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