Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
Grass roots
It merited one line in Andy Burnham's leader's speech at his party conference but Ed Miliband's new Middle East policy is now part of the Labour mainstream. “We will be principled in our leadership in securing a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, as Ed Miliband has shown,” Mr Burnham declared.
It was certainly the unifying talking point around the Merseyside venue. Arab ambassadors were among the many hosts of events focusing on how the Labour government has changed policy on Palestine and Israel since Mr Burnham became prime minister.
The foreign secretary used the conference to put himself on the side of campaign platforms on Labour's left. “We hear you. You were right,” he said, addressing those in the party who had demanded a tougher stance.
Gatherings on the fringes had for a long time called for stronger action, something that Mr Burnham's predecessor Keir Starmer was implacable in rejecting.
The Palestinian ambassador to London, Dr Husam Zomlot, told the room “we are finally being listened to” by a British government that has abandoned attempting to play both sides.
As there is now a clear rift between Britain and Israel, the least that can be hoped for is self-examination over Israel’s readiness to descend into chaos across Palestinian lands.
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan called for the government to do more, despite its recent decision to sanction illegal settlers and cause a severe rift with the Israeli government.
“We need to keep going, don’t stop,” she said, calling for a complete halt to the UK arms trade with Israel and for the closure of loopholes that allowed military equipment into Israel, in particular the F-35 fighter programme.
The doctor, who has worked in the occupied Palestinian territories, also called for the rapid implementation of the trade ban with illegal West Bank settlements and greater accountability for Israel’s actions towards Palestinians.
Political project
I've written that Mr Burnham was right not to listen to those pushing him for a general election. He says that by giving the country honesty on how it needs to change he can give it Hope Again.
Mr Burnham’s first virtue is that he refuses to echo the chorus of “doom” that he hears from elite commentators and analysts. In his political project, there is no room for worries around future deficits and moments of truth in the welfare-heavy budget.
There is a path to transcending these issues in his head. As he told the conference, he has his own theory of growth. “It starts by retaking control of the essentials that make a place work or not,” he said. “You've got to have that control over the fundamental things that everybody needs, and from there, you devolve more power to places, to put them in charge and decide their own destiny.
“In doing those things, we optimise the conditions for businesses to grow and we support our people so they're there for our businesses to employ.”
Consulate closure
European countries post ambassadors to Tel Aviv, but more than a few have sought to protect the status of their consulates general in Jerusalem.
Their presence there is long-standing and ever more important to protect the UK and EU policies of rejecting Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and Israeli claims to the whole city as its capital.
Yet the options for a legal challenge are limited. The UK would struggle to take a challenge to the order to close its consulate in East Jerusalem to the Israeli Supreme Court. And a pathway through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague could take years. “You could conceivably go to the ICJ, but that’s a slow track,” said Vincent Fean, a former consul general in Jerusalem. “There’s an emergency here.”
Emotional moments
The Labour leader's speech was an emotional occasion, not least because Mr Burnham is grieving the death of his father and took time to explain it on stage. But also because of the opening moments with Nadia Fawzi.
She took to the stage before the Prime Minister to relay how Mr Burnham had been instrumental in getting her home from Libya after she was abducted as a child. He is someone “who gets things done”, she told the conference.
After Nadia was taken to her father's homeland, her mother, Sarah Taylor, moved to Libya to try to regain custody. Her ex-husband had ignored court orders to hand her back. Ms Taylor won full custody in 2008 but it took another year before she was reunited with her daughter.
Her plight was highlighted by Mr Burnham, who at the time was her local MP, as well as then prime minister Gordon Brown, who raised the issue with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi at a G8 summit, who said the “child needs her mother”.
Mr Burnham also travelled to Libya to put Ms Taylor’s case to authorities.
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