Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing growing pressure from his party to formally recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide and impose a full arms embargo. The issue is expected to come to a head at Labour’s annual conference next month, where grassroots groups are preparing motions that could force the Government to set out a clearer position on Gaza.
The dispute will be an early foreign-policy test for Burnham following his rise to the Labour leadership. New Daily Prime has previously examined Andy Burnham’s Labour leadership and the challenges facing his government.
Momentum, Labour & Palestine, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign are backing a model motion that local Labour organisations can submit for debate at the conference.
The proposal calls on Burnham’s Government to accept the findings of a United Nations commission of inquiry, which concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The groups are also demanding wider sanctions, including a complete arms embargo and restrictions on trade that they say supports Israel’s military operations or its presence in occupied Palestinian territory.
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Burnham under pressure to change Labour’s Gaza position
Burnham has already apologised for Labour’s previous handling of the Gaza conflict under former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, saying the party had “not got it right”.
Before becoming Prime Minister, Burnham argued that Britain needed to put greater pressure on the Israeli government and acknowledged what he described as increasing evidence of war crimes. However, he stopped short of personally describing Israel’s actions as genocide, saying such a legal determination should be made by international courts.
That position has frustrated some Labour MPs and campaigners who want the Government to go further.
The distinction is important. A UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded in September 2025 that Israeli authorities and security forces had committed genocide in Gaza. The commission said it found four of the five acts covered by the Genocide Convention and concluded that the required intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, in whole or in part, was present.
Israel has strongly rejected the genocide finding, describing it as politically motivated and maintaining that its military campaign is directed against Hamas rather than Palestinian civilians. The war followed the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage.
The UN commission’s conclusion is also separate from the case before the International Court of Justice. The ICJ has ordered provisional measures in the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel, but those measures are not the same as a final judgment on whether genocide has been committed.
Labour groups demand arms embargo and sanctions
The campaigners’ proposed conference motion goes beyond the use of the word genocide.
It calls for a full halt to arms supplies to Israel and wider sanctions. It also seeks restrictions on trade connected to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Settlement policy has become another source of pressure on the British Government. New Daily Prime reported earlier on Israel’s plans for thousands of homes in the E1 settlement area of the occupied West Bank, a project condemned by several countries because of concerns about its impact on the prospect of a future Palestinian state.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said the Government intends to announce a wider package of measures following Israel’s moves to advance the E1 settlement plan, according to The Guardian.
Britain’s approach to Palestinian statehood has also been a major political issue. New Daily Prime previously reported on pressure on the UK to formally recognise a Palestinian state as international criticism of the war and settlement expansion increased.
The coming Labour conference could therefore determine whether Burnham maintains the more cautious legal position inherited from the previous government or moves closer to the demands of party members calling for tougher action.
Last year’s Labour conference showed that the leadership cannot always control the outcome of debates on Gaza. Around 30 motions on Palestine were initially prevented from reaching the conference floor, but delegates later backed an emergency motion calling for the Government to use available measures to prevent genocide and fully suspend arms trade with Israel.
Campaign groups now want the issue debated again under Burnham, who has promised that Labour members should be able to have open discussions within the party.
Pressure is also coming from outside Labour’s grassroots. More than 100 former British and French diplomats have reportedly urged Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron to take stronger action against Israel, including restrictions on arms transfers and additional trade measures.
The political stakes are significant for Labour. Polling commissioned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Friends of the Earth found that 67% of voters surveyed who had moved from Labour to the Green Party said Palestine was one factor in their decision. As polling was commissioned by campaigning organisations involved in the issue, its findings should be viewed in that context.
What readers should know: Burnham has not formally declared Israel’s actions in Gaza to be genocide. Labour campaigners are trying to persuade his Government to adopt that position at next month’s party conference and introduce a complete arms embargo and broader sanctions. The UN commission has made a genocide finding, which Israel rejects, while the International Court of Justice has not issued a final judgment on the genocide case. The key issue to watch is whether Labour allows the proposed motion to be debated and whether Burnham changes Government policy as a result.
