Labour groups to pressure Burnham to recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide
A number of grassroots Labour Party organisations plan to press UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to recognise Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide and to introduce a full embargo on arms supplies to Israel. The campaign will be stepped up ahead of the first party conference that Burnham will attend as head of government.
Draft resolution
As The Guardian World reports, the organisations Momentum, Labour & Palestine, Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign are circulating a model resolution that party members can submit to the conference.
The document calls on the government to accept the findings of a UN commission of inquiry which, according to the publication, concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Activists also demand comprehensive sanctions, including a full arms embargo.
The draft resolution provides for a ban on trade that, in its wording, “contributes to or assists” Israel’s military actions in Gaza or its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories. This includes, in particular, trade with Israeli settlements.
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Debate within the party
Burnham apologised for Labour’s approach to the situation in Gaza during Keir Starmer’s leadership, acknowledging that the party had acted wrongly. At the same time, he did not call the events in Gaza genocide. Before becoming prime minister, Burnham said he saw increasing evidence of war crimes, but that decisions on genocide should, in his view, be made by international courts.
According to the publication, this position caused dissatisfaction among some Labour MPs, not only representatives of the party’s left wing. Some parliamentarians who welcomed Burnham’s apology believe he should directly recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
Previous resolution and diplomats’ appeal
At the 2025 party conference, delegates supported an emergency resolution by the Unite trade union. It called on the Labour government to use all available means to prevent genocide in Gaza, fully suspend arms trade with Israel and suspend the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement.
More than 100 British and French diplomats also appealed to Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron to take tougher measures against Israel, including ending arms transfers and imposing additional trade restrictions. MP Emily Thornberry called on the UK to ban imports from the occupied West Bank.
