UK: Labour to stop cooperating with Greens in 11 councils over 'Zionism is racism' vote - Middle East Eye

Britain's governing Labour Party has decided to stop cooperating with the Green Party in 11 councils across England over the Greens adopting a policy that "Zionism is racism" last month.

Bridget Phillipson, the Labour chair, said the Green motion on Zionism "crosses a line and we cannot work with any party that supports it - at any level of government".

Prime Minister Andy Burnham denounced the motion as "antisemitic" last month. The Green Party said it would "not take lectures" from a government that supplies weapons to Israel. 

According to Labour, cooperation with the Greens will stop on Arun, Derbyshire Dales, Havant, Lewes, Sheffield, Stafford, Warwick, Wealden, West Devon and West Suffolk councils.

Six Green council groups, in Broadland, Monmouthshire, North Somerset, Rother, West Oxfordshire and West Sussex, have condemned the motion.

Phillipson said: "Any local power-sharing arrangement cannot come at the expense of upholding the moral obligation we have to stand up for everyone in our communities and the values we share.

"We are pleased that some local Green parties have rightly opted to disavow this policy and have called on their party’s leadership to do the same. It is disappointing that some local Green parties have not met the conditions Labour has set out.

"Labour continues to oppose this divisive policy and calls on the Green party to do the right thing and rescind it."

The Greens responded in a statement, saying: "Across the country, Green, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors have worked together to provide stable local government, protect services and deliver positive change.

"Leaders across these parties are rightly proud of what those partnerships have achieved.

"Those who issued ultimatums that destabilised power-sharing agreements have often ignored the judgments of their own local leaders, failed to respect the choices made by local voters, and are disrupting successful partnerships."

Through a vote of party activists at the Green Party's annual conference in October, the Greens became the first major party in the UK to recognise Zionism as a form of racism - and to back a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups, rather than a two-state solution.

Green leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, said on Monday afternoon that Labour's decision to end power sharing with the Greens in local authorities would "backfire" on the party.

"The Green Party want to tax billionaires, tackle the climate crisis and stop arming a genocide," Polanski said.

"Labour want to interrupt your local services & impose genocide support from its local councils.

"Andy Burnham revealing himself and his project...."