Canada’s Carney and Britain’s Burnham take first meeting to Everton football match

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met his new British counterpart, Andy Burnham, for the first time Wednesday at the home of the soccer club they both support — before watching Everton play together.

Carney and Burnham held bilateral talks in a luxury suite overlooking the pitch at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool before watching the club face Wolverhampton in the third round of the League Cup.

The setting adds a personal element to their first face-to-face meeting. Burnham is a lifelong Everton supporter and season-ticket holder, while Carney has said cousins in Liverpool led him to support the club. Carney attended Everton matches while living in Britain during his seven years as governor of the Bank of England.

Burnham welcomed Carney to Liverpool and joked that he was glad to finally have someone “to talk to and commiserate about Everton at a G7 meeting.”

The meeting also took on a personal note following the recent death of Burnham’s father from Alzheimer’s disease. Both leaders wore Alzheimer’s Society brooches, and Carney revealed that his father also died from the disease.

“So, I know that struggle,” Carney told Burnham.

After meeting for about 20 minutes, Carney and Burnham emerged wearing matching Everton scarves to applause from some fans. They shook hands and posed for selfies before the match began.

A senior Canadian government official said Carney and Burnham were expected to discuss a Canadian-backed proposal to combine competing plans for an international defense bank that could help NATO allies finance increased military spending and defense production.

Canada has championed the proposed Defense, Security and Resilience Bank, while Britain has pursued a separate multilateral defense financing initiative. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly, said Ottawa believes the proposals could be brought together.

The leaders were also expected to discuss a potentially expanded Canadian role in the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force, as well as cooperation on drones, artificial intelligence, satellite communications, critical minerals and quantum technology.