ANDY BURNHAM was accused of “continuity Starmerism” today as the potential prime minister pledged to back Labour’s arms build-up and backing for Nato and nuclear weapons.

In his first pronouncement on foreign policy and the military build-up, Mr Burnham emphasised backing for the continuing Ukraine conflict and support for the escalating arms bill.

He also failed to mention Palestine or the crisis in Gaza at all in the article, which appeared in The Times, despite claiming he would be “guided by our values.”

He also pledged to retain Jonathan Powell as national security adviser in No 10.  

Chief of staff under former PM Tony Blair, Mr Powell has been a key shaper of foreign policy under Sir Keir Starmer.

“As prime minister, I will surround myself with the best and most experienced advisers when it comes to national security, and this includes keeping Jonathan Powell as national security adviser,” he wrote.

Your Party parliamentary leader Jeremy Corbyn warned: “Starmer made the disastrous political choice to sacrifice working-class living standards in favour of endless military spending. Repeating this strategy would be a catastrophic mistake. 

“So, too, would be a continuation of Britain’s shameful complicity in genocide. 

“The Palestinian people are not an afterthought, and if the next prime minister wanted to bring about real change, he would end all military co-operation with Israel, and co-operate with efforts to bring about truth, accountability and justice.”

Your Party MP Zarah Sultana said: “Burnham’s pitch is Starmer 2.0: refusal to call out genocide in Gaza, continuing arms sales to a genocidal apartheid state, and now £25 billion more to Nato while Britain plays poodle to Washington. People don’t need missiles, bombs and tanks. They need funding for housing, healthcare and to address the climate emergency.”

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said: “It was always unlikely that Burnham would make a decisive policy shift away from Keir Starmer’s approach to foreign policy.

“But this article is simply continuity Starmerism, talking up the implausible Russian threat to the UK, committing to ever-increasing military spending, and in its commitment to Nato and keeping the unwinnable war in Ukraine going rather than seeking a peaceful resolution. 

“It is also disgraceful that it makes no mention of Gaza. Starmer was brought down in no small part by his shameful support for Israel’s war crimes and by the enormous pressure the Palestine movement put on him for his collusion in genocide. 

“Unless his successor breaks with his moral bankruptcy, he will face a similar fate,” Ms German warned, adding that Mr Burnham’s position made the next national demonstration for Palestine, on July 18, all the more important.

Mr Burnham’s latest lurch to the right came as nominations formally opened for Labour leader to succeed Sir Keir.

Since there are no other declared candidates, this will be a formality, with the former Manchester mayor likely to succeed as leader on July 17 and as prime minister on July 20.

In his article, Mr Burnham stressed that “our commitment to Nato and Britain’s nuclear deterrent will remain absolute. 

“Our relationship with the US will remain critical as our most important defence and security ally. And Britain’s support for Ukraine will not waver,” he wrote.

“We know that British security and wider Euro-Atlantic security are inseparable from what happens in Ukraine.”

Britain would, he stressed, “meet our Nato commitments,” continuing: “It is right that we rebuild our hard power for a new era that is very different to the one in which much of our current military equipment was first designed.”

He emphasised that he wanted the huge increases in projected military spending to be used to “back British workers and businesses. 

“Reindustrialisation through defence — and other sectors — is critical for both our economic and national security,” he said.

Mr Burnham also set out plans to draw closer to the European Union, which he has said he hopes to one day see Britain rejoin.

“I want to consolidate the progress made on the existing UK-EU negotiations and make further progress quickly, including by strengthening our co-operation on illegal migration, economic security and the broader resilience of our societies to external threats,” he wrote.

“We must be guided by our values. Effective alliances are built on values as well as interests,” he added, despite ignoring the Palestine issue entirely in his article. 

However, Mr Burnham will not be able to ignore the issue for long.  

Today more than 800 medical professionals across Britain sent an open letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling on her to urgently intervene to secure the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been arbitrarily detained by Israel without charge since December 2024.

Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, one of the organisers of the letter, said: “Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is being tortured to the brink of death by Israeli forces — for the crime of refusing to abandon his patients. 

“The UK government must act now, publicly and forcefully, to secure his immediate release — before it’s too late.”

MP Zarah Sultana said: Burnham’s pitch is Starmer 2.0: refusal to call out genocide in Gaza, continuing arms sales to a genocidal apartheid state, and now £25bn more to Nato while Britain plays poodle to Washington. People don’t need missions, bombs and tanks. They need funding for housing, healthcare and to address the climate emergency.”