British politician Andy Burnham is widely expected to become the UK's next prime minister, following Keir Starmer's resignation last week amid intense pressure from his own Labour Party. Burnham, who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 and won the Makerfield by-election earlier this month, could take the reins of a party that has been haemorrhaging votes after disastrous local elections in May.
As Burnham promises a leadership challenge to replace Starmer – the most unpopular prime minister since polling began in the late 1970s – he will be forced to consider the party's stance on Israel and its genocidal war on Gaza. Patrick Diamond, lecturer in public policy at Queen Mary University of London, said it was too soon to tell whether the party's foreign policy on Israel would shift dramatically should Burnham become prime minister.
Local elections showed Labour lost more votes to the left-wing Green Party – which views Israel as an “apartheid” state and its military operations in Gaza as “genocide” – than to the far-right, anti-immigration party Reform UK. Additionally, polling commissioned by Save the Children UK, Christian Aid, and Medical Aid for Palestinians suggested that more than 60 percent of Labour Party members were dissatisfied with the government's response to Israel, with the majority backing tougher measures, including the suspension of all UK arms exports to Israel.
Nimer Sultany, lecturer in public law at SOAS University of London, said Burnham's overall position has not differed significantly from Starmer's, with the exception of his call for a ceasefire in Gaza on October 27, 2023, when he broke ranks with the Labour leadership. According to Sultany, Burnham will be unlikely to stray far from Labour's set policies.
Burnham's position is unclear. Critics have accused him of shifting position when convenient, branding him a “political weathervane” or a “flip-flop”, while supporters depict him as a pragmatist whose ear is attuned to the demands of the people. In 2012, he visited the occupied West Bank with Labour Friends of Palestine, but in 2015, he joined Labour Friends of Israel. The same year, he unsuccessfully ran to become Labour leader, pledging to travel to Israel as his first visit abroad.
Benjamin Netanyahu's 2015 re-election as Israeli prime minister met disappointment from Burnham, who described it as “depressing”. The same year, he was among a handful of British politicians who backed recognising Palestinian statehood, describing it as “a right” while slamming illegal Israeli settlements' expansion as “key obstacles” to a two-state solution. At the same time, he opposed boycotting Israel.
Upon becoming mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, Burnham described Israel as a “democracy that has a long history of protecting minorities and promoting civil rights.” In the run-up to the Makerfield by-election last week, he refused to describe Israel's military campaign in Gaza as a “genocide”.
Burnham has unsuccessfully run for Labour Party leader twice, in 2010 and 2015. Before becoming Manchester mayor in 2017, he was Labour's shadow home secretary. He has since criticised the UK's exit from the European Union, known as Brexit, and said he hoped to see the country rejoin the bloc.
He has staunchly supported the transatlantic alliance, NATO, refusing to serve under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn when he pledged to leave the alliance if elected. While in 2003 he voted consistently in favour of the UK's military intervention in Iraq alongside the US, in 2023 he said that the joint operation “resulted in huge harm to innocent civilians.”
Earlier this month, Burnham appeared critical of US President Donald Trump, while avoiding openly naming him. Following a spat between Trump and Starmer, he defended the British prime minister for refusing to allow US troops to use UK bases to launch attacks on Iran. Last week, Trump described Burnham as “extremely liberal”.
Burnham is understood to be following Starmer's line also when it comes to curbs on undocumented migration, including ending the right to permanent refugee status. He has signalled his intention to retain Shabana Mahmood as home secretary, in a sign of support for her attempts to limit legal and undocumented migration that several Labour members had hoped might soften.
Source: www.aljazeera.com