More than 250 leading British legal and academic figures have issued an open letter to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, pressing his new Labour government to implement sweeping policy shifts on Israel—including ending all forms of military cooperation and reversing the terrorist designation of the pro-Palestinian direct action group Palestine Action.
Dated August 25 and obtained exclusively by Middle East Eye, the letter bears signatures from high-profile public figures, among them prominent human rights barrister Michael Mansfield, renowned Oxford University historian Avi Shlaim, Defend Our Juries co-founder Tim Crosland, and King’s College London academic Laleh Khalili (previously affiliated with the University of Exeter).
In the scathing opening of the letter, the signatories argue that despite repeated, well-documented accusations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, successive UK governments have maintained unwavering military, economic, and diplomatic backing for Israel. They condemn the current government’s approach: rather than reversing course and halting complicity in what the letter frames as violations of international law, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and allegations of genocide, the UK Home Office and judicial system have instead targeted activists who speak out in solidarity with Palestine.
“Rather than put a stop to the most grievous state crime of the twenty-first century, our government has chosen to impose increasingly authoritarian restrictions upon political protest in general and upon Palestinian solidarity in particular,” the letter reads.
The signatories, who identify as legal scholars, practicing legal professionals, and public intellectuals focused on upholding global ethics, justice, and international law, anchor their demands in the 1948 Genocide Convention—a binding international treaty that requires all signatory states to take active measures to prevent and punish acts of genocide. “We respect and commend citizens who refuse to stand by as mere spectators while their government fails to honour its legal obligations,” they add.
Central to the letter’s demands is a call for Burnham to turn his earlier symbolic apology into tangible policy change. Ahead of taking office in July 2025, Burnham publicly apologized for the previous Labour leadership’s decision under Keir Starmer to back Israel’s 2023-2024 military campaign in Gaza and reject early calls for a ceasefire. The letter urges Burnham to align his actions with this apology, to “underscore the UK’s respect for international law, freedom of speech and assembly.”
Specific policy demands include an immediate end to all forms of military and security cooperation with Israel: this covers a full halt to arms exports, the termination of joint surveillance flights, intelligence sharing, military training programs, and joint operational activities. The signatories also formally demand the government remove Palestine Action from the UK’s list of proscribed terrorist organizations, and enshrine the right for all defendants in political protest cases to present a full legal defense and submit all relevant evidence to trial juries.
Additional demands include the UK government officially backing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its efforts to enforce outstanding arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials accused of international law violations.
Palestine Action, a direct action group focused on opposing Israeli occupation and UK corporate complicity in Israeli settlement expansion, was officially designated a terrorist organization by the incoming Labour government in July 2025. The designation makes membership in or public support for the group a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment. Since the ban took effect, thousands of people across the UK have been arrested simply for holding placards stating “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Since taking office, Burnham has faced growing pressure from within his own party’s backbenches to take a harder line on Israeli policies, including imposing a trade ban on goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this month, Middle East Eye reported that Burnham’s administration is preparing to unveil a package of new policies toward Israel as early as September, with a ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements expected to be a core measure.
According to MEE’s sources, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has been a leading advocate for stronger action against Israel, and has held a series of consultations with civil society organizations to shape the upcoming policy package. Last Wednesday, Miliband confirmed the government would announce new measures in response to Israel’s recent plans for new settlement construction in areas east of Jerusalem—construction that would split the occupied West Bank into two disconnected segments.
Closing the open letter, the signatories emphasize the urgency of the situation in Gaza and the occupied territories, and call on Burnham to respond to their demands within one month, by the end of September. “Given the catastrophic scale of the emergency that confronts us, we hope that your new government might now address these imperatives as a matter of urgency,” the letter concludes.