When Keir Starmer became party leader, he wasn’t necessarily expected to win the 2024 election. He was above all a safe pair of hands, brought in to launder Labour’s reputation after Jeremy Corbyn’s disastrous tenure. A weak personal brand, but heavyweight qualifications. Andy Burnham has the opposite problem.
Burnham has branded himself King of the North. But parochial preening is not a coherent political programme. His wish list includes moving desks to Manchester for a ‘No 10 North’ and franchising the buses. Meanwhile the NHS, welfare, policing and justice system are all buckling. The economy faces severe structural problems. The world grows more dangerous, and our armed forces remain in crisis.
So which of these did Burnham pick for his first big announcement? Israel. He chose a foreign conflict that, thanks to his predecessor’s performative gestures, Britain has almost no influence over. Not Sudan, or Ukraine on our doorstep. Not even Iran, where tens of thousands have been gunned down by their own government.
This obsession with Israel is corrosive. Our soon-to-be Prime Minister is happily fanning the flames, alongside parliamentarians who debate it more than any domestic issue. Burnham knows the dangers: most racist attacks on British Jews use the conflict as a pretext. In that climate, the deadly Heaton Park synagogue attack happened in Manchester on his watch as mayor.
His statement began with the obligatory throat-clearing about Hamas and antisemitism, before the ritual condemnation of Israel. Days after Hamas massacred families, and before any Israeli offensive began, Starmer said Israel had the right to defend itself. Burnham says Labour “didn’t get it right.” He then went into detail on exactly how he’d punish Israel — alone — for a war started and shaped by Hamas.
Labour is being cannibalised by Reform on the right and the Greens on the left. Rather than fight for the crowded centre ground, Burnham is chasing “progressives” and votes from Gaza independents in marginal seats. For many of them, no apology or sanctions will ever be extreme enough.
I didn’t want Starmer gone because only worse waited in the wings. Now we have Burnham: anointed, unelected, and steering Labour toward Green Party lite.
Alex Hearn is Director of Labour Against Antisemitism