Burnham defends UK sanctions on Israeli settlements at UN, warning political trust "will fall even lower"
Andy Burnham told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that Britain must back its two-state-solution rhetoric with action, defending this month's UK ban on dealings with Israeli settlements.
Andy Burnham defended the UK’s ban on dealings with Israeli settlements at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, warning public trust in politics “will fall even lower” if Britain talked about a two-state solution without backing it with action.
“We live in an age of low trust in politics,” he said. “If we were to continue to talk about the two-state solution, but fail to back those words with deeds, that trust will fall even lower and our enemies will seek to exploit the alienation that follows from that. We won’t let it happen.”
He called the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks “utterly horrific” and said Britain stood with Israel and Jews worldwide against Iranian threats — “but this does not justify the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza or the West Bank.”
He condemned Israel’s tenders for the E1 settlement project near Jerusalem, which he said would “threaten to put a viable Palestinian state beyond reach”: “It cannot be allowed to happen.”
The measures were announced on 8 September alongside France and Canada: banning imports of settlement goods, creating designation powers against those profiting from settlement activity, and banning advertising of settlement property.
Asked about the decision on the UNGA sidelines, Trump said: “I don’t know about the [decision]. Do you know about the [decision]?” — although a Western official said Burnham had briefed him before London’s announcement. Burnham said London acted after Israel advanced the E1 project: “If we do nothing, then it further erodes people’s trust in politics.”
Sources
- The Times of Israel: liveblog entry, “Burnham: Public trust in politics ‘would fall even lower’ if UK didn’t sanction settlements” — https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-september-22-2026/
- The Times of Israel (Jacob Magid): “Asked about UK decision to sanction Israeli settlements, Trump says he doesn’t know about it” — https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/asked-about-uk-decision-to-sanction-israeli-settlements-trump-says-he-doesnt-know-about-it/
- GOV.UK (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office): “UK to bring forward new powers to respond to moral emergency in Palestine, and target illegal settlement activity in the West Bank” — https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukto-bring-forward-new-powers-to-respond-to-moral-emergency-in-palestine-and-targetillegal-settlement-activity-in-the-west-bank-to-protect-the-viabili
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