Apologising isn’t enough. Andy Burnham must end Britain’s complicity in genocide
Dan Iley-Williamson writes in The New Arab on 21 July 2026:
“Labour got it wrong.” So says the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, about the party’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. His apology and commitment to “do better” are intended to signal a reset, the beginning of a new chapter, putting distance between himself and the disgraced legacy of Keir Starmer.
The corollary of Burnham’s admission – that others got it right – is left unsaid, but it is no less true. Despite the demonisation and smears, the movement for Palestine has remained resolute in its commitment to the liberation of the Palestinian people, challenging the British government’s complicity in Israel’s atrocities.
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In the local elections, as part of the Vote Palestine coalition, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) put Palestine on the ballot paper, asking council candidates to “Pledge for Palestine”. More than 2,200 candidates did so, with more than 600 subsequently getting elected. That is more than 10% of all newly elected councillors.
In Wales, PSC asked candidates for the Senedd to make a pledge too, explicitly supporting the Palestinian-led call for Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment (BDS). The commitment was made by almost 40% of the newly elected Senedd Members, including the majority of the new Welsh government’s Cabinet.
Following the elections, PSC teamed up with Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland to commission polling of voters who have stopped supporting Labour under Starmer’s leadership and now back other parties of the centre and left. Respondents were asked if Labour’s policy on Palestine was a factor in them abandoning the party. The results were emphatic. More than half (53%) said Palestine was a factor, with two-thirds of voters who have switched from Labour to the Greens saying it was.