Tommy Doherty

Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has refused to call the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza a genocide. Asked about the violence in an interview with the Guardian, he said: “I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.” He added: “But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction, and there has to be a full process of investigation and accountability.” The world-leading International Association of Genocide Scholars last year declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has killed at least 72,000 Palestinians there since 7 October 2023 and experts quoted by the BMJ say the actual toll is far higher. Burnham became a member of Labour Friends of Israel in 2015 and during a Labour leadership bid the same year described the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel as “spiteful”. He also promised to make Israel his first state visit if he won - calling the country a “democracy that has a long history of protecting minorities and promoting civil rights”. The Muslim Vote, an organisation that monitors politicians’ views on Palestine, regards Burnham’s position as “unclear”. Burnham supports a two-state solution and has denounced illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He visited the area in 2012 as part of a parliamentary delegation with Labour Friends of Palestine and the Council for Arab-British Understanding. He was one of three senior Labour figures who in October 2023 released a statement breaking with Keir Starmer’s position and asking him to call for a ceasefire. Burnham, along with London mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, said Israel had the right to take "targeted action within international law". However, they said they had "profound concerns" about the numbers killed in Gaza and the denial of aid. The Manchester mayor also backed the formal recognition of a Palestinian state, co-signing a letter in June 2025 demanding the UK government take action to protect the two-state framework. The UK went on to recognise a Palestinian state in September 2025.