Burnham’s rise puts Labour’s Gaza policy under scrutiny

Andy Burnham’s possible path to Downing Street is drawing new attention to Labour’s policy on Israel and Gaza after Keir Starmer announced his resignation under pressure from his party, Al Jazeera reported. The question matters for Labour because polling and recent elections cited by Al Jazeera show Gaza has become a source of anger inside the party and among voters on its left flank.

Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, returned to Parliament after winning 54 percent of the vote in the Makerfield by-election, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that he is widely tipped as a likely successor to Starmer, whose government has faced severe criticism from Labour members over its handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Patrick Diamond, a public policy lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera that it was too early to know whether Burnham would make a sharp change in Britain’s policy toward Israel. Diamond said Burnham would probably push for talks and a fast end to the violence, while also being alert to the risk of Labour losing voters over Gaza.

Al Jazeera reported that Labour’s poor local election results in May showed the party lost more support to the Green Party than to Reform UK. The Greens regard Israel as an apartheid state and describe its military campaign in Gaza as genocide, according to Al Jazeera.

A poll commissioned by Save the Children UK, Christian Aid and Medical Aid for Palestinians found that more than 60 percent of Labour Party members were unhappy with the government’s response to Israel, Al Jazeera reported. The same polling found that most backed tougher steps, including halting all UK arms exports to Israel.

Record offers mixed signals

Burnham’s position on Israel and Palestine is not easy to define, Al Jazeera reported. Diamond said Burnham’s decade as a regional mayor meant he had not been deeply involved in foreign policy, making his current views harder to assess.

Nimer Sultany, a public law lecturer at SOAS University of London, told Al Jazeera that Burnham’s approach has not differed much from Starmer’s, apart from his call for a Gaza ceasefire on October 27, 2023. Sultany said he expected continuity rather than a break in British policy toward Israel if Burnham took power.

Al Jazeera reported that Burnham visited the occupied West Bank in 2012 with Labour Friends of Palestine, then joined Labour Friends of Israel in 2015. During his unsuccessful 2015 Labour leadership campaign, he pledged that Israel would be his first foreign visit if he won.

That same year, Burnham criticised Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election after Netanyahu pledged more settlement building in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported. Burnham also backed recognition of Palestinian statehood and called it a right, while opposing boycotts of Israel as the wrong response.

After becoming Greater Manchester mayor in 2017, Burnham described Israel as a democracy with a record of protecting minorities and civil rights, according to Al Jazeera. During the Makerfield campaign, he declined to call Israel’s Gaza campaign genocide, saying he could not judge an issue of that scale from his role as mayor, while calling for investigation and accountability over the destruction.

Foreign policy and security

Al Jazeera reported that Burnham has long supported NATO and refused to serve under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn when Corbyn pledged to leave the alliance. Burnham voted in favour of the Iraq war in 2003, but said in 2023 that the operation caused great harm to civilians and lacked a plan for what came after.

On domestic security and migration, Al Jazeera reported that Burnham is expected to keep close to Starmer’s approach, including curbs on undocumented migration and ending the right to permanent refugee status. He has signalled that he wants Shabana Mahmood to remain home secretary, a move Sultany told Al Jazeera would mark continuity, including over the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.