Burnham sees sanctions against Israeli settlements as an electoral asset

Andy Burnham told the Commons that ‘Britain has to stand for fairness against injustice’. Photograph: House of Commons/AFP/Getty Images

There was a time when placing Israel under strict trade sanctions would have been a politically risky thing for a British prime minister to do. Andy Burnham, however, considers it an electoral asset.

As Kemi Badenoch attacked him over defence spending at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Burnham deliberately turned the topic to the trade ban on illegal settlements which he had announced on Tuesday.