Andy Burnham apologises for Labour’s previous stance on Gaza and says party ‘didn’t get it right’

Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has apologised for the party’s previous stance on Gaza, saying in a video message that it didn’t get it right and that the ‘response has too often not been good enough’.

Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister later this month, was one of several high-profile Labour figures who were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza by late October 2023 – which at the time put him at odds with Sir Keir Starmer.

In a video message on X, Burnham posted: “Labour’s initial response to the treatment of Gaza caused huge hurt. We got it wrong and I am sorry for that,” he wrote on social media.”

In the accompanying video message, Burnham reiterated his condemnation of the 7 October Hamas attack, as well as antisemitic attacks in the UK.

Burnham went on to praise the decision to recognise a Palestinian state and said that he fully supported the restrictions on arms licences to make sure that ‘no British bombs or bullets can be used by the IDF in Gaza or in the West Bank.’

He went on to say: “Let’s be honest. The UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire and we must now do more to strengthen our approach.”

Burnham criticised Netanyahu’s government for trying to make a two-state solution impossible, and said any government led by him would look 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 also said there was increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed.

Burnham’s intervention is part of a wider attempt to reset the relationship with Labour’s progressive flank, many of whom have criticised or left the party over its position on Israel and Palestine.

His comments mark a sharp contrast to those previously made by Keir Starmer, whose interview on LBC radio shortly after Hamas had launched its devastating attack on Israel in October 2023 was criticised after he said that Israel “has the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza, upsetting many in the party.