Green councillors face Labour deadline to disown Zionism policy

Labour is set to decide whether to end power-sharing with Green councillors after demanding they disown their party's policy that Zionism is a form of racism.

The BBC has been told Green groups have been given until Sunday to respond to the demand, after which Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) will decide whether the party will continue with local deals to share power.

Green groups in some areas have publicly stated they do not agree with the policy or have distanced themselves from it, reducing the likelihood the pacts will end.

But in other areas Green councillors are yet to specify where they stand on the issue, meaning local alliances appear more vulnerable to collapse.

The issue is the most acute in nine local authorities where Greens are key partners in power-sharing arrangements, such as making up majorities that enable budgets to be passed and policy decisions to be made.

These include Sheffield City Council, Warwick District Council and Lewes District Council, three authorities where Labour and the Greens are in direct coalition.

The other areas where the Greens play a key role are: West Oxfordshire District Council, Stafford Borough Council, Havant Borough Council, Broadland District Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council and Wealden District Council.

In other areas, Green councillors are not central to local alliances continuing to function. These include Runnymede Borough Council, where Green councillors have left the local ruling alliance folllowing Labour's ultimatum.

In some areas, such as Lewes, Wealden, Broadland, West Sussex and North Somerset, local Green groups have distanced themselves from their party's Zionism policy, or said they do not agree with it.

But other Green groups are yet to publicly respond to Labour's demands, meaning there is greater uncertainty over the future of their co-operation with the party.

In Stafford, the power-sharing arrangement means the Greens have one cabinet member on the authority, councillor Tony Pearce, who holds the climate change portfolio.

Councillor Pearce has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded.

The leader of the Stafford Green group, Doug Rouxel told the BBC they were "formulating a response" to Labour's letter which they would like to put to party members first.

Labour confirmed the if the Greens refused to reject the Zionism policy, a process would then be triggered to remove Pearce from his cabinet position in Stafford.

Elsewhere, the leader of the Labour group on the Green-led Lewes District Council has resigned from the party, following his own party's ultimatum.

Chris Collier, who has been contacted for comment, will now sit as an independent cabinet member on the Labour-Green alliance that was formed to run the council in May 2023.

The BBC has been told Collier did not agree with the tone of Labour's ultimatum to the Green Party over the Zionism policy.

The "Zionism is racism" motion was passed by members of the Green Party of England and Wales at its annual conference in Brighton last month.

The policy motion adopted by members said Zionism was an ideology that supported an "ethnonationalist Jewish state" that had led to the "disenfranchisement and destruction" of Palestinians.

It backed the creation of a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine", which includes modern-day Israel.

It has led to a backlash from Jewish groups, as well as criticism from senior Green figures, including four of its five MPs.

Green leader Zack Polanski, who skipped the conference vote to unsuccessfully campaign for election in a Westminster by-election, has said he wants to see the "imperfect" motion amended in future.

Labour councillors require the approval of the party's NEC before entering into local tie-ups.

According to the party's rulebook, local groups must also "stand down" from power-sharing arrangements when asked to do so by their regional office.

By contrast, the Green Party of England and Wales allows local groups to make the final decision on where and whether to share power locally.

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."

Additional reporting by Victoria Walton, Jennie Aitken, Hannah Miller, Vikki Irwin, Emily Hudson, Lucinda Adam.

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