An open letter to Andy Burnham

Dear Andy Burnham,

We are deeply dismayed by the record of this government. Like so many in Britain, we are desperate for an alternative – one which you now have the power to deliver.

Change at home cannot be disconnected from change internationally. The government has failed to respond to global crises in a principled way, instead cosying up to those who perpetuate injustice and inequality; losing Labour a significant number of votes in the local elections and the trust of many.

We are therefore calling on you to chart a new road forward. In particular:

  1. We must make new alliances with all opposed to authoritarianism, including those in the Global South, as well as rebuilding our relationship with Europe. Trump’s presidency has turbo-charged the global crisis, ripping up even the semblance of international law and replacing it with the rule of the bully – through trade pacts and militarism. Given Britain’s dependence on the United States, this also presents a direct threat to our own economy and security. We need a different approach that rejects Trumpism. The government must defend international law and help build a fairer global economy.
  2. We must hold Israel to account for its crimes across the Middle East. The British public is sickened by the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and by the British government’s complicity in these war crimes. The government must immediately halt all arms sales to Israel, suspend our trade agreement, ban settlement goods, and ensure the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant is upheld. We must work with international partners to deliver real justice and accountability for the Palestinian people, take all measures within our power to end Israel’s illegal occupation, and work to deliver freedom, self-determination and equality for Palestinians. We must stop Britain’s complicity in the devastation and destruction across the Middle East.
  3. We must regulate Big Tech. Britain’s embrace of AI has led us to soft-pedal the regulation of Big Tech corporations, deepen our dependence on US Big Tech and sign government contracts with toxic companies like Palantir. We need a new approach which builds digital sovereignty, tackles monopoly power, maintains climate goals and prevents mass unemployment.
  4. We must tackle the climate crisis in a fair way that supports workers everywhere. Climate change remains the key crisis that humanity faces. Effective climate action must make the international economy fairer: ending the fossil fuel era, making polluters pay for climate damage, backing debt cancellation, playing our role in housing climate refugees, and getting rid of obstacles to the transition like investor-state dispute settlement. Tackling illicit finance and global tax abuse will return hundreds of billions for investment in the green transition.

We stand ready to support a new government if it will deliver a more just and equitable world, and restore faith in democracy.

Yours sincerely,

To add your organisation, email info@stoptrump.org.uk