Andy Burnham rules out deal with Zack Polanski’s Green Party

Andy Burnham has ruled out a future deal with the Green Party – branding them “antisemitic” over a motion passed at the conference last week.

During prime minister’s questions (PMQs) Mr Burnham was challenged by Tory MP Dame Harriet Baldwin over whether he would rule out any future power sharing deal after the next election.

Dame Harriet pointed out that Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had ruled out any deal with Reform UK after she had branded their comments on Englishness racist.

She claimed that the Green motion describing “zionism as racism” was antisemitic.

Mr Burnham said: “Can I condemn the motion that was passed unequivocally? It is wrong. It is antisemitic, and this side of the House will have nothing to do with it.

“And we will always take the right response when it comes to any partnerships we have with other parties. We cannot support a partnership with a party that holds a position that has recently been adopted.”

Mr Burnham’s comments were welcomed after pressure had mounted in Labour for him to make a clear statement on the Greens.

David Lammy’s former adviser in the Foreign Office Ben Judah told The Independent: ““It is hugely welcome that Andy Burham appears to have ruled out a partnership with the Green Party as long as they subscribe to this policy that has caused such shock and distress in the Jewish community.”

Adam Langleben, the executive director of Progress, said: “Andy Burnham is totally right. The motion is the most antisemitic motion passed by any major political party in Europe, ever. Zack Polanski is too afraid of the monster he helped create to provide the leadership needed to tackle this.”

The motion passed by the Greens at their conference in Manchester has been condemned by former party leader Caroline Lucas as well as the party’s own MPs.

Mr Polanski was criticised for not showing leadership on the issue after he failed to vote because he was fighting the by-election in Holborn and St Pancras where he was defeated last week by Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali.