Burnham to face pressure at Labour conference to recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide

Burnham’s First Conference as PM Set to Test His Gaza Stance

Wanderstayfinder.com – Andy Burnham walks into his first Labour party conference as prime minister next month carrying a question that has divided his own caucus for years: will he finally label what Israel has done in Gaza a genocide? A coalition of grassroots organisations is preparing to put that question directly to the floor, and the answer could define the early trajectory of his premiership.

Momentum, Labour & Palestine, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) have drafted a model motion they intend to push through the conference. The text asks delegates to formally accept the conclusions of a United Nations commission of inquiry finding that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, and to direct the government toward what the drafters call “comprehensive sanctions,” including a total arms embargo. It goes further, demanding ministers prohibit any trade that “aids or assists” Israeli military operations in Gaza or its continued occupation of Palestinian territories, explicitly naming commerce with Israeli settlements.

A Motion Born of Frustration

The push is not confined to the party’s left flank. Multiple Labour MPs have privately expressed exasperation at Burnham’s continued refusal to use the word “genocide,” even as he has acknowledged the party’s broader failures on the issue. Several told the Guardian they welcomed his recent apology for how Labour handled Gaza under Keir Starmer’s leadership but insisted he must go further and explicitly “acknowledge Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide.”

Burnham’s own words, offered weeks before he assumed office, struck a more conciliatory tone without crossing the line activists want him to cross. Speaking to the Guardian at the time, he said:

“We’ve got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government … let’s be honest, the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire. And we must now do more to strengthen our approach.”

Yet when pressed on the specific charge of genocide, he deferred to international courts, noting “increasing evidence” of war crimes while stopping short of a formal finding. That equivocation, supporters argue, has left a vacuum that conference delegates intend to fill.

The 2025 Precedent

Delegates have precedent on their side. In the run-up to last year’s conference, the leadership attempted to block Palestine-related motions from reaching the floor altogether. Roughly thirty such motions from local parties were struck off in September 2025, drawing accusations that the party was suppressing internal debate. The conference nonetheless overruled the leadership, voting in favour of an emergency motion tabled by the Unison union. That resolution called on the Labour government to “employ all means reasonably available to it to prevent the commission of genocide in Gaza” and to “fully suspend the arms trade with Israel and the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement.”

This year’s campaign is framed explicitly as a test of Burnham’s stated commitment not to “stifle debate” within the party. Momentum is simultaneously circulating a petition aimed at current and former members and voters, urging the prime minister to honour the position delegates endorsed last autumn.

Diplomatic Pressure Builds from Outside the Party

The push is not solely an internal Labour matter. More than one hundred former British and French diplomats have written jointly to Burnham and French president Emmanuel Macron, calling for tougher measures against Israel, including suspension of arms transfers and additional trade restrictions. Foreign secretary Ed Miliband has signalled that ministers will table a “comprehensive set of measures” in response to Israel’s decision to proceed with its contested E1 settlement scheme in the occupied West Bank.

Emily Thornberry added her voice this week, arguing that Britain should ban imports from the occupied West Bank as settlement expansion accelerates. Together, these signals suggest the government is preparing some form of escalation, though whether that escalation will include the word “genocide” remains the central unresolved question.

The Electoral Stakes

Beyond the conference hall, the issue carries electoral weight. Labour is actively courting progressive voters who defected under Starmer, and polling commissioned this summer by PSC and Friends of the Earth found that 67 per cent of voters who switched from Labour to the Greens named Palestine as a factor in their departure. For a party already struggling to rebuild its base, that figure represents a concrete arithmetic problem: silence on Gaza costs seats.

Sasha Das Gupta, co-chair of Momentum, put the stakes plainly:

“Burnham must not allow the same failures that alienated voters under Starmer to continue. He must listen to the majority of the labour movement and take decisive action on Gaza.”

Dan Iley-Williamson, a political organiser at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, warned that symbolic gestures would be insufficient:

“Burnham’s apology for Labour’s previous stance on Palestine will mean nothing if his government doesn’t decisively break with Keir Starmer’s complicity in Israel’s crimes. Burnham could use this Labour conference to show the country he will make this break.”

Whether the conference floor delivers that break, or whether Burnham once again routes the question back to international tribunals, will be settled within days. For the groups pressing the motion, the answer determines whether his premiership begins with a rupture or a continuation.