Burnham rules out Labour partnership with Greens over policy

Andy Burnham said on October 14 that Labour could not support a partnership with the Green Party while it maintained a conference policy describing Zionism as a form of racism. His statement, made during Prime Minister’s Questions, clarified his position on future political cooperation but did not specify whether it applied to existing local-government arrangements. Burnham called the motion wrong and antisemitic in response to Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin, who asked him to rule out working with the Greens. He said Labour would consider the position when making decisions about partnerships with other parties and could not support a party holding the policy it had recently adopted. Green Party members approved the motion at their annual conference in Brighton on October 4 by 1,022 votes to 813, according to one report. It describes Zionism as a form of racism and supports a single democratic Palestinian state across historic Palestine. The motion’s policy status does not automatically mean it will be included in the party’s election manifesto.