Andy Burnham voted in favour of the British invasion of Iraq in 2003 when he was MP for Leigh under Tony Blair's government. He also joined Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), a pro-Israel group within the party, in 2015. This established him as a non-radical figure in contrast to colleagues who were strongly pro-Palestinian, such as Jeremy Corbyn. Running unsuccessfully to be Labour leader in 2015, Burnham said his first overseas visit would be to Israel. He called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement "spiteful" and said he opposed it. At a leadership hustings, Burnham praised Israel as a “democracy that has a long history of protecting minorities and promoting civil rights” and said that the Balfour Declaration represented “an example of British values in action”. He added that he would want to see the declaration's centenary anniversary celebrated with events in schools to demonstrate how Britain “played a role in the establishment of a democracy in the region”.
