PRO-PALESTINE activists slammed Andy Burnham’s “totally inadequate” apology for Labour’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza as he was announced party leader at the TUC’s headquarters in London on Friday.

Mr Burnham, who is set to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as PM on Monday, apologised last week for Labour’s initial response to the Israeli onslaught against Palestinians, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better.”

The PM-in-waiting vowed to put more pressure on the Israeli government as well as a potential ban on the trade of goods with illegal settlements.

Speaking ahead of a national march for Palestine in central London on Saturday, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) deputy director Peter Leary said: “Today, Andy Burnham has been confirmed as the next Prime Minister. 

“Last week, he had to apologise and admit that the government got it wrong. We didn’t need him to tell us because we have always known that it was the people, the millions who have steadfastly stood with Palestine, who got it right.

“Burnham clearly wants to distance himself from Keir Starmer’s shameful support for Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, but his statement remains totally inadequate. 

“If he really intends to break with Starmer’s disgraceful legacy, he must start by imposing wide ranging sanctions against Israel including a full arms embargo and a total ban on all trade that aids or assists Israel’s violations of international law. 

“Mass pressure by our solidarity movement has forced this apology. It is clear that only ongoing action will deliver real change.”

The march will start at midday in Russell Square and be attended by Holocaust survivors and pro-Palestinian Jewish groups who on Thursday wrote to Mr Burnham urging him to drop the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

The Jewish Voice for Liberation said that “many of the examples in the IHRA encourage the conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel” and that Labour’s treatment of allegations of antisemitism “guided by this conflation, was deeply flawed.”

“This false interpretation has been destructive in its effects,” it adds.

“We hope you will oppose any further attempts to muzzle the Palestine marches.”