Labour councils are ending investments in defence firms for more ‘ethical’ alternatives in a desperate bid to win back pro-Palestinian voters.
Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors in Dudley, in the West Midlands, were the latest to vote to divest their pension funds from British defence companies.
They argued it could ‘contribute towards peace’ and avoid the authority being involved ‘directly or indirectly in arms production’.
They followed Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, all of whom reportedly faced pressure from activists who object to the supply of weapons to Israel. Manchester City Council voted last year to pressure its pension provider to abandon weapons manufacturers.
The policy is thought to be a subtle tactic from local party officials seeking to win back Muslim and pro-Palestinian votes ahead of the local elections.
But it appears to be at odds with national policy, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to overhaul ethical investment rules to unlock billions of funding for the defence industry. Defence Secretary John Healey said in January that those boycotts were ‘well-meaning’ but ‘fundamentally flawed’, and that ‘we stop wars by backing our defence industry’.
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Shadow Local Government Secretary, said: ‘Labour councils across the country bowing to boycotts are inflaming community tensions and empowering those looking to hold our country to ransom.
Labour councils are ending investments in defence firms for more ‘ethical’ alternatives in a desperate bid to win back pro-Palestinian voters. Pictured: Pro-Palestinian protesters rally after Cambridge University’s failed attempt to secure an injunction to severely restrict students rights to protest in support of Palestine at the High Court
Last July, Labour lost significant numbers of votes in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters due to the party’s refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza until February. Pictured: Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks outside the US Embassy during a national demonstration in support of Palestine in London on February 15
‘It’s bad for the UK economy and bad for our defence industrial base just when it needs to be fired up.’
Former Navy Admiral Lord West accused the councils of ‘not thinking’ and ‘making our nation less safe’.
One councillor who backed a divestment vote told The Telegraph that they faced pressure from ‘local pro-Palestine groups, especially the members with large groups of Muslims in their wards’.
Last July, Labour lost significant numbers of votes in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters due to the party’s refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza until February – five months after the Israeli invasion.
It lost five seats to pro-Palestinian Independent candidates, including the shock victory of Shockat Adam against frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South.
Last night party insiders warned the leadership that such boycotts would continue if the party refused to change its line on the Israel-Gaza conflict and foreign aid.
One source told the Mail: ‘Once again, the Labour leadership totally out of touch with their own councils and voters across the country.
‘It beggars belief that we’ve been watching Palestinians massacred using British weapons for the last year and a half, and the Labour Party’s answer is to pump more money into weapons while cutting the foreign aid budget.’
