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Action on Israel
The government’s toughening stance on Israel has been one of the notable changes since the arrival in Downing Street of Andy Burnham.
His Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, set out the reasons for it during his first appearance at Foreign Office questions in the House of Commons yesterday.
Mr Miliband gave an assured performance reflecting his experience as a minister and former opposition leader – even joking he had proved how difficult that role is – and informed MPs he had been reading the back catalogue of FCDO questions. “It’s the kind of thing I do,” he said.
Preceding Mr Burnham’s first visit to the dispatch box as prime minister, Mr Miliband said what had happened in Gaza and the West Bank “has pricked the conscience of a generation and that’s why we will act”.
Indeed, the first six questions he faced, from all sides of the House, were related to Israel.
In reply, he repeated that the government would announce a “comprehensive set of measures” in the coming weeks as ministers seek to prevent the destruction of the prospect of a Palestinian state.
More specifically, he gave the strongest signal yet that the government is preparing sanctions to imminently penalise businesses linked to illegal Israeli settlements.
Asked whether action should extend beyond goods to services, including mortgages, financial support and legal services provided by British companies to settlement builders, Mr Miliband said the government was examining its “wider economic relationship with the occupied territories”.
“We do not want British companies financing, constructing or advertising new settlements,” he said. “The work we are now undertaking is how we can stop that.”
An announcement before the next recess in three weeks would seem probable, although Mr Burnham gave a little more wriggle room.
He reminded MPs he had said before he became PM that he thought the government needed to look again at its approach to Israel. Mr Burnham said the E1 settlement extension and fast-tracked tender process made matters urgent and would be made before the Israeli elections in October.
Tapestry talk
Aside from the brief comment on Israel and stressing his determination to continue supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, Mr Burnham mostly steered away from foreign affairs during his prepared statement.
That domestic focus will change this evening when he welcomes Emanuel Macron to London. The French President is in town to open the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum.
Mr Burnham said he would thank Mr Macron for his co-operation in preventing small boat crossings. The issue will be top of the agenda during their talks in Downing Street tomorrow.
He said it was “hard to accept” claims from opposition leader Kemi Badenoch that the Labour government had had nothing to do with a fall in boat numbers making the perilous, cross-Channel journey.
Crossings into the UK fell to a seven-year low this summer, according to the latest Home Office figures. June, July and August recorded the lowest combined total of small-boat crossings for those months since 2019, and the lowest number of illegal migrant arrivals by this route since 2020. There were 102 such Channel crossings from June 1 to August 30 this year, compared to 224 for the same period in 2025.
Opposition alert
Mr Burnham will face Ms Badenoch for the second time in two days when he takes part in his first Prime Minister’s Questions today.
The Tory leader scored successes against his predecessor Keir Starmer – who used the first day of a new term to announce he would be leaving Westminster to focus on “international affairs” – helping to improve her popularity ratings.
Striking similar blows against Mr Burnham is vital if she is to make further inroads, argues columnist Chris Blackhurst.
While eyes will be on her gladiatorial contest with Mr Burnham at PMQs, they will also be drawn to another event, the Reform UK conference in Birmingham later this week.
Mr Farage approaches the new season with trepidation, he writes.
“The self-confident cockiness and poking has been replaced with snarling and, within his own party, backbiting. Instead of heading round the nation, milking applause, Mr Farage spent the summer break fending off a man with a metal waste bin on his head. It was a bizarre spectacle, one that raised serious questions about Mr Farage’s antenna and ability to think strategically.”
Lebanon mission
Across the Irish Sea, EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Dublin. Before that gathering, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that more than 10 EU states are willing to contribute resources and people to a new military and civilian mission to advise and train Lebanese forces after the withdrawal of a decade-old UN Interim Force in Lebanon, planned for December 31.
The mission would aim to strengthen Lebanon's Internal Security Forces to help free up the Lebanese army to focus on disarming the armed group Hezbollah.
"Planning is progressing well,” she said.
Irish Foreign and Defence Minister Helen McEntee said it was important to not leave a void after the departure of Unifil.
"We do not want to allow a gap to exist, where we know there needs to be a continued presence. It’s really important that we can reach an agreement soon," Ms McEntee said.
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