Bloomberg reports British diplomats are privately reassuring the Trump administration that Ed Miliband’s impending trade sanctions on Israel will be “largely symbolic“, and in reality it should be business as usual between the two countries. Burnham and Miliband’s claims of a “fundamental reset” with Israel are designed to be heard by a domestic audience…
Burnham spoke to Trump by phone last night, where the PM warned him of the stunt. Miliband will announce the package – expected to be trade restrictions on agricultural products from West Bank settlements – in the Commons later today. He still hasn’t spoken to Netanyahu. Pat McFadden has already been on damage control duty this morning, insisting on Sky News that Israel is still “a really important trading partner” and the sanctions are about “keep[ing] the two-state solution alive“. ‘Just ignore the sanctions, we need to show some ankle to the left’…
Mail commentator Dan Hodges – who was kind to Burnham during the Makerfield campaign – now concludes: “The truth is Andy Burnham doesn’t have a 10 year plan. He’s barely got a 10 week plan.“