Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership, as he signalled a significant shift in the UK’s approach to the Middle East.
The prime minister-in-waiting told the Guardian he would put more pressure on the Israeli government, including through further sanctions on individuals and entities, but also potentially by banning trade in goods with illegal settlements.
As well as pushing for substantive change on the ground, Burnham’s intervention starts to address concerns among voters on Labour’s progressive flank, many of whom have abandoned the party over its position on Israel and Palestine.
“I know many people feel that at the start of Israel’s military action in Gaza my party didn’t get it right and I am sorry about that. The response has too often not been good enough. We need to do better,” he said.
“We’ve got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government … Yes, we have taken some important steps … But let’s be honest, the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire. And we must now do more to strengthen our approach.”
His apology, however, may irritate Keir Starmer, whose interview on LBC radio shortly after Hamas had launched its devastating attack on Israel in October 2023, and in which he said Israel “has the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza, had upset many within the party.
The Labour leader then took almost 10 days to clarify his remarks, further angering many Muslim and progressive voters. In 2025, Starmer came under months of pressure, including from his own cabinet ministers, before finally recognising Palestine as a state.
Burnham acknowledged the UK government had taken some significant steps, including formal recognition, sanctions on Israeli ministers and violent settlers, and restrictions on arms licences so no British bombs or bullets could be used by the Israel Defense Forces in Palestine.
However, many Labour figures right across the party believe Starmer struggled to get a hearing on Gaza after his early missteps and delays, and that as a result the UK government’s subsequent action failed to cut through.
Two-thirds of Labour voters who have subsequently switched to the Green party said the party’s position on Gaza was a factor, according to an Opinium poll for the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign last month.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester sought to reassure Jewish communities that, despite his shift in position, he remained deeply concerned about the rise in antisemitism in the UK and “strongly condemned” Hamas’s 7 October attacks.
“There is no contradiction between a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism and holding the Netanyahu government to account. I will always take a fair and balanced approach and stand up for what is right,” he said.
In his remarks, Burnham said the UK government had to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government, describing the suffering of the people of Gaza as a “scar on our collective conscience”, with innocent Palestinians continuing to be killed, far too little aid getting in and the Israeli military continuing to expand its areas of control.
However, he stopped short of describing what was happening on the ground in Gaza as a genocide – a key demand of some on the left – saying that while there was “increasing evidence” of war crimes, it was for the international courts to make that ruling.
“I have been absolutely appalled by what I’ve seen and read about the destruction of Gaza. There’s increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed,” he said. “There must be accountability for the depth of the suffering the people of Gaza have experienced. Ultimately, however, it must be for the international courts to determine, rather than politicians.”
He is also likely to come under pressure from the left to ban all arms shipments to Israel, which still includes spare parts for F-35 fighter jets, as well as to take a different approach to banning Palestine Action, after the court of appeal ruled last month that Shabana Mahmood’s decision to proscribe the direct action group was lawful.
In his remarks, Burnham also criticised the surge in settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the continued expansion of illegal settlements, displacing Palestinian communities, claiming that Netanyahu’s government was attempting to make a two-state solution impossible.
“That’s why we need to do more, which includes looking at further sanctions, both on those involved in the violence in Gaza but also looking at measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements,” he said.
Foreign Office ministers are understood to already be looking at ways of preventing goods and services from the settlements making it into the UK, without a knock-on effect for legitimate trade with Israel.
