Chris Mason: Burnham seeks to show he will go further than Starmer with West Bank sanctions

The United Kingdom’s decision to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank marks another major shift in Britain’s Middle East policy. It also gives Prime Minister Andy Burnham a chance to show that he intends to move further than his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the measure alongside Burnham in the House of Commons, almost a year after Britain formally recognized a Palestinian state. The announcement came with blunt criticism of Israel’s conduct and was presented as a continuation of that earlier decision.

Miliband argues that the policy follows the logic of eventually achieving a two-state solution, with a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. He has insisted that Britain has the ability to act and that inaction would amount to failure. “A strategy of passivity in the face of what is happening is not a strategy,” he told Jewish News.

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A strategy of passivity in the face of what is happening is not a strategy.

The government takes pride in the breadth of the international effort behind the move. Eleven other countries, including France and Canada, are taking the same approach. One source involved in the effort said Britain helped bring the countries together, but did not need to persuade them because they had reached the same conclusion independently.

The coordinated action is intended to increase the measures’ impact and limit the backlash faced by any one country from Israel or the United States. British officials had anticipated that Israel might force the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, and that has happened. The initial response from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was described in Whitehall as restrained, although officials acknowledged that no one could predict what President Donald Trump might say next.

The policy also responds to pressure inside Labour. About 140 Labour lawmakers publicly demanded the step at the start of the summer, while Burnham criticized Starmer’s earlier approach, writing in July: “Labour's initial response to the treatment of Gaza caused huge hurt. We got it wrong and I am sorry about that.” Labour has lost support in several communities with large Muslim populations. The Conservatives’ response, led by Kemi Badenoch, provides a reminder that the decision remains part of a contested domestic political debate.

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Labour's initial response to the treatment of Gaza caused huge hurt. We got it wrong and I am sorry about that.