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BREAKING Andy Burnham will announce a trade ban on Tuesday on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He will say that Britain will not stand back and accept the “destruction of the two-state solution” Burnham told President Trump about the proposed ban in a phone call on Monday. No 10 said the prime minister had stressed the importance of the two-state solution. The Trump administration is expected to make a statement attacking the decision The intervention is one of Burnham’s most significant on foreign policy since he became prime minister. Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, will announce the ban in the Commons He will raise concerns that Israel’s plans for extra housing will in effect cut the West Bank in two and destroy any hope of a two-state solution, in which Israel and an independent Palestinian state would exist side by side Israeli ministers are expected to retaliate against the sanctions. Downing Street confirmed on Monday that, since becoming prime minister, Burnham had not spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Binyamin Netanyahu Miliband is also expected to announce sanctions against people involved in the Israeli settlements. Last year, Britain sanctioned senior Israeli ministers in response to “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” The subject has divided Labour. Labour Friends of Israel, a group that includes senior Labour MPs and peers, has said that while it “strongly opposes” the settlements there is a risk that the trade ban will become a “de facto boycott” of Israel However, more than 140 Labour MPs, about a third of the parliamentary party, signed a letter calling for the government to ban trade with Israeli settlements. Supporters are preparing to table a motion at Labour’s conference this month A trade ban has strong support among Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green voters, the progressive alliance that Burnham is attempting to bring together before the next election. The majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters believe that Britain has been too friendly towards Israel, while the figure for Green voters is 62 per cent thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…