Labour is ending cooperation with Green party groups in 11 councils across England after giving local representatives an ultimatum to disown a policy that states “Zionism is racism”. The policy was approved at the Greens’ party conference last month and also calls for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state.
Labour said coalitions and other arrangements would end in councils where Green groups had refused to condemn the motion. The affected authorities are Arun, Derbyshire Dales, Havant, Lewes, Sheffield, Stafford, Warwick, Wealden, West Devon and West Suffolk. Cooperation had already ended in Runnymede over the same issue.
Agreements will remain in place in Broadland, Monmouthshire, North Somerset, Rother, West Oxfordshire and West Sussex, where Green council groups have condemned the motion. Labour also said cooperation would continue at the West of England mayoralty, led by a Labour mayor with a Green deputy mayor.
Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said the policy “crosses a line” and that her party could not work with any organisation supporting it at any level of government. She said Labour opposed what she described as a divisive policy and called on the Green leadership to withdraw it.
The Greens and the Local Government Association Green group said they were “hugely disappointed”, arguing that the decision could lead to worse outcomes for residents. They said Green, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors had worked together in several areas to provide stable local government, protect services and deliver changes for residents.
The dispute follows a Labour instruction for local groups working with Green politicians to review their agreements and end them unless the motion was rejected. Labour figure Andy Burnham described the policy as antisemitic.
The motion defines Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, as racism and rejects a two-state solution. It calls instead for a single Palestinian state “with equal rights for all”. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has asked the Greens for further information to assess the motion’s practical implications and potential impact.
Some Green figures, including former co-leader Adrian Ramsay, have urged local parties to renounce the policy. That position has put Ramsay at odds with Zack Polanski, the Greens’ leader in England and Wales. The party has said it will not accept lectures from a Labour government that supplies arms to Israel.
The policy was decided under the Greens’ direct democracy rules, according to which members determine party positions. It received just over 1,000 votes, representing approximately 0.4% of total membership, and has been criticised by four of the party’s five MPs and former leader Caroline Lucas.
Ramsay said on Sunday that the Greens needed to reform their internal democracy to prevent what he called a takeover by the hard left. He said some new members might be more at home in Your Party or the Socialist Workers party.
Sources: The Guardian Politics.