Pressure is mounting on the Lib Dem-Green cooperation agreement on Newcastle City Council following the Greens' national conference decision to adopt a “Zionism is racism” policy. Opposition parties have called on the Lib Dem-led minority administration to end the pact signed earlier this year to secure Green support.
The motion, approved at the Greens' conference, has been condemned as “antisemitic” and prompted backlash from Jewish groups. Labour announced this week it would terminate its power-sharing agreements with the Greens on councils unless local councillors disowned the motion.
Reform UK's demand
In Newcastle, Reform UK councillors have urged council leader Colin Ferguson to scrap the Lib Dem-Green deal and “show moral leadership for Newcastle's Jewish residents”. The Newcastle Reform UK group said: “Newcastle residents deserve to know whether the Liberal Democrat Leader has the integrity to do the right thing and end this untenable 'agreement' or intends to ignore antisemitism among his allies to shore up his weak administration.”
A Labour Party spokesperson also pressed the Lib Dems to “take a serious look at who they've chosen to buddy up with”. They added: “The Newcastle Greens have a record on this. Just last week readmitting a councillor after he was accused of antisemitism, and had to disown another candidate during the local elections campaign. The Lib Dems need to call out the motion passed at Green Conference for what it is. Antisemitic.”
Green councillor's readmission
The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last week that the Greens had lifted the suspension of Arthur's Hill ward councillor Mohammed Suleman. Coun Suleman had been sitting as an independent after it emerged he had reposted a TikTok video claiming Jewish prisoners of war were willing to bury Soviet prisoners alive under Nazi instruction during World War II. The video described Jews as “ungrateful, merciless, and without love”.
Newcastle's Lib Dems issued a statement this week saying they were “deeply troubled” by the Green motion. Deputy council leader Mark Mitchell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Our position is clear. We oppose antisemitism. We oppose racism in all its forms. We oppose anti-immigrant rhetoric. We believe in working together to reduce community tensions.
“In contrast, Reform believe in inflammatory statements, discriminatory actions and dividing Newcastle. The argument that “Zionism is Racism” is nothing new. I campaigned against those who used it to victimise Jewish students as a student myself in the 1990s and I will carry on campaigning against its use in the same way today.
“I will not be lectured by a party in the council chamber that couldn't even vote for a motion defending Newcastle's status as a welcoming city of black and white. Liberal Democrats in Newcastle engage with the Jewish community and all communities across Newcastle. We do not seek to use them to score cheap political points.”
Green response and EHRC inquiry
The Newcastle Green group, which overtook Reform to become the council's second-largest party after Coun Suleman's readmission, said: “It's really disappointing to see Reform trying to play politics here. They only want to talk about how divided our communities are because they don't have the answers to fix our city's problems. We'll continue to work across party lines to clean up our streets, support local businesses, and bring bills down. Newcastle needs a politics that brings people together and gets things done, not one that turns communities against each other.”
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wrote to the Green Party about the motion agreed at its party conference to assess its potential impact, saying it recognised “many Jewish people will be feeling vulnerable”.
