'We must now do more': Andy Burnham apologises for Labour's response to Gaza
Andy Burnham has apologised for the Labour government’s response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, saying his party “didn’t get it right” and that it must now do more, signalling a potential change in the UK’s approach to Israel as he prepares to enter Downing Street.
“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,” Burnham said.
Burnham said the “unbearable suffering” in Gaza was a “scar on our collective conscience”. He also criticised Israel's ever-expanding occupation of territory in Gaza, adding, “We’ve got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government.”
Burnham applauded Keir Starmer’s government for recognising Palestine, imposing sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers, and imposing a ban on “British bombs and or bullets” going to Israel.
“We have taken some important steps,” he said. “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.”
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“Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement. We are seeing a surge in settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” he said. “Netanyahu’s government is clearly attempting to make a two-state solution impossible.”
Burnham vowed to look at further sanctions on Israeli settlers and banning trade with Israeli settlements.
Burnham’s statement will be closely watched, as he is expected to become the UK’s prime minister next month.
On war crimes
A former mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham returned to Parliament last month in a by-election in Makerfield. MPs are scheduled to assemble this month to nominate their next leader.
Burnham was careful in his statement to condemn the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel. He also condemned antisemitic attacks in the UK.
While his criticism of Israel marks a departure from Starmer’s language, it is unlikely to satisfy many pro-Palestinian voices in the UK and those upset with the UK’s close ties to Israel.
Burnham, for example, refused to weigh in on whether Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza. The United Nations and dozens of rights groups and human rights experts have recognised Israel's war on the enclave as genocide, where over 73,000 Palestinians have been killed.
“There is increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed,” Burnham said, but added it was for “international courts, and not politicians, to decide".
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli minister of defence, in November 2024, for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Middle East Eye revealed in June 2025 that David Cameron, the former British foreign secretary, in April 2024 privately threatened Karim Khan, the British chief prosecutor at the ICC, to defund and withdraw from the ICC if it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
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