Labour has instructed its councillors to dissolve any power-sharing agreements with the Green Party over the latter's new 'Zionism is racism' policy. The directive follows Prime Minister Andy Burnham's condemnation of the motion, passed by Green members at their party conference earlier this month, as 'wrong' and 'antisemitic' during Prime Minister's Questions yesterday.
Burnham had already ruled out any coalition agreements with the Greens while the policy remains, but it was unclear whether that stance extended to local government. A statement released this morning confirmed that it does.
Party chair sets out expectations
Party chair Bridget Phillipson said: 'The Prime Minister has been completely clear: this policy is wrong and antisemitic, and has no place in British politics.'
'Where local Labour Parties currently have an arrangement with the Greens in local government, we expect their Green counterparts to make clear that they reject this position and to call on their national leadership to reconsider the policy.'
'We have asked local Green groups to respond as a matter of urgency. Where they are unable to provide that assurance, Labour will bring any such local arrangement to an end.'
Affected councils and policy detail
Labour currently leads a coalition alongside the Green Party on Sheffield City Council and works with the Greens and the Liberal Democrats to run Havant Borough Council in Hampshire.
The new Green Party policy equates support for the existence of an Israeli state with racism, rejecting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Instead, it calls for a single state of Palestine with 'equal rights for all'.
