Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called on Green Party leaders to reverse the party's backing for a controversial 'Zionism is racism' motion. Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Thursday, he described the motion as "a completely wrong decision" that effectively ruled out a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
Motion backed at conference
Green members backed the motion at their party conference in Brighton on Sunday (October 4), with 1,022 votes in favour and 813 against. It declares the Greens to be an "anti-Zionist party" and sets into policy that Zionism - the movement to develop and protect a Jewish state in Israel - will be "treated as any other form of racism".
The motion also supports the establishment of a "single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital".
Reaction and fallout
The move has been condemned by other political parties and Jewish groups, while leader Zack Polanski, who abstained from the vote, was barred from entering Israel. It also came just days before Thursday's (October 8) Holborn and St Pancras by-election, in which Mr Polanski is running.
Mr Burnham said: "For that reason, it shouldn’t be supported in any way, shape or form. I would call on the leadership of the Green Party to say that it will be reversed and it won’t be Green Party policy."
He declined to rule out entering into a coalition with the Greens in the event of a hung parliament after the next election, saying he would not get into "any business about what might or might not happen in the future". He added: "I’m clearly setting out this Government’s view in relation to the wrongness of that resolution and the importance of the two-state solution."
Resignations and statements
In the wake of the vote, the Wales Green Party's deputy leader announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he had left the party after seven years. In a video published online, Phil Davies said he had been thinking about leaving for "a couple of months", but that it was "accelerated" by the motion.
Former Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay, the MP for Waveney Valley, refused to rule out quitting the party on Wednesday, saying he was "not ruling anything in or out at this stage". He told the BBC: "What I’m doing at this stage, and we’re only a few days after the motion, is to talk carefully with colleagues to reflect both with Jewish Greens but also with Green MPs and other people in leading roles in the party to look at how best can we get things back on track."
Gorton and Denton MP Hannah Spencer was also not present and did not vote, the party confirmed. The Manchester Evening News understands she was on the campaign trail with Mr Polanski. A spokesperson said: "Hannah didn't vote on any policy over the weekend, and wasn't at the conference on the Sunday when the debate and vote on this motion took place."
Ms Spencer also put her name to a joint party statement from the Greens' five MPs as well as its leaders, co-deputy leaders, and peers. It said: "As Green Party leaders and MPs, we will always uphold universal human rights. We will never tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. We will continue to stand in opposition to genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and the illegal occupation. We will continue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government. And we will continue to work to ensure that the Green Party is an anti-racist party in every way. We know there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people."
A party spokesman said following the vote: "This has been a serious and deeply felt debate within our membership. Our members value the ability to bring forward and decide party policy, and conference has now made its decision. The Green Party is an anti-racist party and has consistently opposed the illegal occupation of both Palestinian and Syrian land, called for an end to arms sales to the Israeli government and spoken out fearlessly about the devastating situation in Gaza and the West Bank. Those positions remain central to our approach. So too does our deeply-held commitment to equality, justice and human rights for all, and opposition to racism in all its forms."
