IN Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Isaac and Mary share a touching romantic moment as they sit on a bench overlooking New York’s Queensboro Bridge.
The iconic scene paints the Big Apple as the perfect setting for a love story: fallen leaves, descending fog and city lights sparkling in the distance.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s New York meeting with Andy Burnham on Tuesday morning was not steeped in quite so much Hollywood glory.
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There was no smooth jazz playing in the background, no flattering camera angle.
But the encounter was still momentous: it was the first time Sanchez had met his British counterpart face-to-face.
In a video posted by Sanchez on X, the two socialist leaders can be seen embracing before heading off on a stroll through the tree-lined paths of Central Park.
Clearly, there was no Woody Allen behind the camera: the PSOE and Labour politicians appear stiff, the conversation stilted, the whole encounter just a little awkward.
But most pundits would certainly agree that their mutual admiration is genuine.
In a revealing exchange at the end of the video, Sanchez says: “I think progressive governments need to be very coordinated.”
“Seguro,” Burnham replies in Spanish.
The two men have more in common than their shared enthusiasm for progressive politics. Both are political survivors.
Sanchez was forced out as PSOE leader in 2016 after refusing to support a government led by the conservative Partido Popular, only to return to the leadership the following year and become prime minister in 2018.
Burnham, meanwhile, lost two Labour leadership contests before finding his political base as mayor of Greater Manchester, where he became one of the party’s most prominent advocates of devolving power away from Westminster.
Both have since carved out identities further to the left than their earlier political careers suggested, while retaining a pragmatic streak.
And both have increasingly made the case for a bigger role for the state, stronger public services and more power for regions.
There is another obvious point of connection: Europe.
Burnham has been increasingly critical of the legacy of Brexit. In a striking development just hours after meeting Sanchez, he declined to rule out Labour including a commitment to rejoin the European Union in its next election manifesto.
He stressed that his immediate priority was closer UK-EU cooperation, but the comments underline how far the debate has moved since Brexit.
Sanchez, meanwhile, has consistently pushed for closer European cooperation and was keen to discuss strengthening ties between Britain and the EU with Burnham.
That was particularly relevant in New York.
While Burnham was preparing to meet Donald Trump for the first time, Sanchez skipped the US president’s traditional UN reception, citing diary commitments.
He had also been critical of Trump’s approach to international affairs.
The two leaders were in New York for the same reason: the 81st United Nations General Assembly, whose high-level meeting is poised to run between September 22 and 28.
World leaders have gathered in the Big Apple against a backdrop of wars in Gaza, Iran and Ukraine, as well as growing concern over climate change, artificial intelligence and the future of the international order.
Burnham used his first UN address to warn about Russian disinformation and attacks on Western democracies.
He also called for greater international cooperation on AI and pitched Britain as a country capable of bringing the US, Europe and other powers together.
Sanchez, meanwhile, used the UN gathering to push Spain’s priorities on international cooperation and the Middle East, while holding a series of meetings with world leaders and senior UN figures.
And so, beneath the slightly awkward Central Park stroll, there was a serious political point.
Sanchez and Burnham may come from different sides of the Channel, but they increasingly find themselves talking about many of the same things: Europe, public services, regional power and a more interventionist state.
For Burnham, Sanchez is also a useful European ally as Britain tries to rebuild its relationship with the EU.
And for Sanchez, having a British prime minister openly talking about closer ties with Europe – and refusing to rule out rejoining the bloc altogether – is hardly a bad thing.
Sanchez’s X video was no cinematic masterpiece.
But perhaps it was a sign of things to come.
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Said 3000 words and 2900 of them were “Israel”.