Burnham’s apology over Gaza marks ‘reset moment’ as Labour seeks to win back progressive voters

Burnham’s apology for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza was accompanied by a promise to put more pressure on the Israeli government Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP View image in fullscreen Burnham’s apology for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza was accompanied by a promise to put more pressure on the Israeli government Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP Analysis Burnham’s apology over Gaza marks ‘reset moment’ as Labour seeks to win back progressive voters Pippa Crerar political editor But it remains unclear how much of substance will change – and whether it will be enough to rebuild the party’s electoral coalition On the final day of Labour’s party conference in 2023, when the public was still reeling from the brutal Hamas attack on Israel just days before, Keir Starmer took to the airwaves for the traditional broadcast round – but gave one interview that would have particularly damaging fallout. Sitting down with LBC’s Nick Ferrari, the then opposition leader asserted Israel’s right to defend itself, a stance that was in line with the broad political consensus at the time. But then he also appeared to suggest it had “the right” to withhold power and water from Palestinian civilians. “Obviously, everything should be done within international law,” he added. His comments were clipped up and shared widely across social media, attracting the fury of many on the left. It took Starmer’s team a week to clarify his remarks, which they insisted had been misinterpreted. But the damage had been done. Andy Burnham apologises for Labour’s stance on Gaza and says it ‘didn’t get it right’ Read more Dozens of Muslim councillors threatened to quit the party. In an attempt to heal divisions and reassure them that he understood their anxieties, the Labour leader wrote them a letter. But many felt that it wasn’t enough. The following month, party tensions over the leadership’s stance towards Gaza deepened, when Starmer was hit by a major rebellion over a vote for a ceasefire, which saw eight of his frontbenchers, including Jess Phillips, quit. The row highlighted a deep tension that has run through the Labour party for years on a subject on which it has a complicated history. Since its inception, Labour had supported the creation of the state of Israel. The argument went that a party that believed in social justice had to protect a people who had been through the Holocaust. A more critical view of the Israeli government began to emerge as a result of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza under a series of hardline rightwing leaders. The focus shifted to showing solidarity with the Palestinian people instead. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, some justified criticism of Israel’s conduct spilled over into antisemitism, with the EHRC finding “unlawful harassment” of Jewish members, though the former leader denies it was ever tolerated Some in Labour felt that Starmer – who enforced a zero tolerance approach to