Labour has said it will end its power-sharing agreements with the Green Party on local councils if they do not reject the “Zionism is Racism” policy adopted earlier this month.
All Labour council groups who are currently in coalition, or other power-sharing arrangements, with the Greens at council level have been asked to write to the party and seek “reassurances” they condemn the motion, which was passed at Green Party conference.
The local Labour politicians will also urge their Green partners to call on the party’s national leaders to condemn the motion, which has been widely condemned as antisemitic.
If the Greens do not respond in seven days, then Labour has said it will end its power-sharing arrangements.
(PA Graphics)
PA Graphics
The ultimatum will impact 17 councils across England and one in Wales, according to the Labour Party.
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said: “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.
“This isn’t an issue of party politics; it’s about doing what is right and upholding the values anyone holding public office should share.
“The Labour Party fought hard to address antisemitism within our own party and ensure it had no place in our politics.
“We have a responsibility to uphold those same standards in our relationships with other parties.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday ruled out any coalition with the Green Party on a national level in future, while the policy is in place.
Asked about the Zionism is racism motion at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Burnham said he condemned it “unequivocally” and would not support a “partnership” with the Greens while it remained in place.
The Labour Party leader said: “It is wrong, it is antisemitic, and this side of the House will have nothing to do with it.
“We will always take the right response when it comes to any partnerships we have with other parties.
“We cannot support a partnership with a party that holds the position that has recently been adopted.”
A Green Party spokesperson said: “For the Labour Government to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism is disappointing and wrong.
“Trying to tell local parties what to do and who they can work with is undemocratic.
“Whilst Labour continue to try to meddle in our internal democracy, arm a genocide and lock up protesting pensioners, we will not take lectures from them.”
The Liberal Democrats, who also share power in councils across England with the Greens, said it was up to their local councillors to decide whether to end coalitions.
A spokesperson for the party said: “The Liberal Democrats stand unequivocally against antisemitism, and there is no place for hate or divisive rhetoric in our politics.
“The Greens’ policy is divisive, irresponsible and deeply insensitive at this time of rising threats of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and risks significantly increasing community tensions in the UK.
“The policy conflates British Jews attending synagogues with the most extreme positions of the Israeli far right and will cause concern throughout the Jewish community here in Britain. Liberal Democrats condemn this, it is utterly wrong.
“The Green Party needs to take responsibility for the actions of its members and do far more to seriously tackle antisemitism within its ranks.
“Decisions about local council arrangements are made entirely by local councillors on the ground, who know their communities best.
“We continue to call on decent-minded members of the Green Party to reject and condemn this motion.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the UK’s largest cross-community Jewish organisation, welcomed Labour’s announcement.
Vice president Karen Newman said: “We strongly welcome Labour’s decision to end arrangements with Greens in local government unless they can give assurances of their rejection of the antisemitic platform the Green Party has recently adopted.
“This comes on the back of the Prime Minister’s important confirmation that there could be no coalition with the Green Party under its current policy. It is right that parties in positions of power should be held to clear standards.
“Labour’s position – that it cannot work with Greens while this racist motion is in place – is the correct one. This is a commitment we have been pressing for, and we are urging other mainstream parties to take the same clear and principled stand.”
The 18 councils where Labour will issue the challenge to the Greens are:
– Derbyshire Dales (Lib Dem-led coalition)
– Broadland (Lib Dem-led coalition)
– West Suffolk (Labour-led coalition)
– Arun (Lib Dem-led coalition)
– Havant (Labour-led coalition)
– Lewes (Green-led coalition)
– Rother (Coalition led by local independent group)
– Runnymede (Coalition with Lib Dems, Greens and local independent group)
– Wealden (Green-led coalition)
– West Oxfordshire (Lib Dem-led coalition)
– West Sussex (Lib Dem-led coalition)
– North Somerset (Lib Dem-led coalition)
– West Devon (Independent-led coalition)
– Monmouthshire (Labour minority-led coalition)
– Coventry (Labour-led confidence and supply agreement with the Greens)
– Stafford (Labour-led coalition)
– Warwick (Green-led coalition)
– Sheffield (Labour-led coalition)