Labour Cuts Ties With Greens in 11 Councils Over Zionism Motion

Labour is walking away from the Green party in local government. The party announced it will end coalitions and other power-sharing deals in 11 councils across England after Greens refused to condemn a motion passed at their conference last month declaring that Zionism is racism and calling for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel.

The freeze hits Arun, Derbyshire Dales, Havant, Lewes, Sheffield, Stafford, Warwick, Wealden, West Devon and West Suffolk councils. Cooperation had already stopped in Runnymede over the same motion. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said the policy crosses a line and that Labour cannot work with any party that backs it at any level of government.

Not every partnership is dead. Labour says six Green council groups have condemned the motion, so arrangements survive in Broadland, Monmouthshire, North Somerset, Rother, West Oxfordshire and West Sussex. The West of England mayoralty also stays intact, where a Labour mayor works alongside a Green deputy mayor.

Phillipson set the ultimatum just over a fortnight ago, telling Labour groups to review their agreements and end them unless their Green counterparts rejected the motion, which Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham branded antisemitic. She praised the local Greens who disavowed it and urged the party leadership to follow suit, adding that Labour fought hard to root out antisemitism in its own ranks.

The Greens are not taking it quietly. In a joint statement, the party and the Local Government Association Green group said they were hugely disappointed by moves designed to force local leaders into jeopardising progressive partnerships that deliver for residents. They argued that councillors from multiple parties have worked together to protect services and blamed those issuing ultimatums for destabilising deals and ignoring local leaders and voters. The party's official line has been that Greens will not take lectures from a Labour government supplying arms to Israel.

The motion, decided by members under the party's direct democracy rules, passed with just over 1,000 votes, roughly 0.4% of the total membership. It has been criticised by four of the Greens' five MPs and by former leader Caroline Lucas. Former co-leader Adrian Ramsay pressed local parties to renounce it, putting him at odds with Zack Polanski, who leads the Greens in England and Wales. On Sunday, Ramsay said the party must fix its internal democracy to avoid a hard-left takeover. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has written to the Greens asking for more information to assess the motion's practical implications.