Labour ends power-sharing with Greens in 11 councils over Zionism policy

Labour has ended power-sharing arrangements with the Green Party in 11 local councils, after the Greens adopted a policy defining Zionism as racism, according to BBC News. The party's chair, Bridget Phillipson, said Labour cannot work with any party that supports the "Zionism is Racism" policy at any level of government.

Labour said local Labour-Green agreements were in place in 18 authorities, and that 11 of them did not meet the criteria the party demanded. The councils where Labour ended power-sharing are Arun, Derbyshire Dales, Havant, Lewes, Runnymede, Sheffield, Stafford, Warwick, Wealden, West Devon and West Suffolk. In Runnymede, Labour said local co-operation had already ceased.

Labour said its conditions were met in Broadland, Monmouthshire, North Somerset, Rother, West Oxfordshire and West Sussex. Monmouthshire is in Wales. Labour also said Coventry City Council does not have a formal Labour-Green arrangement, and that no such deal will be made in the future.

The dispute began with a vote at the Green Party's conference. In October, Green Party members backed a motion entitled "Zionism is racism". The motion describes Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine, and backs a single democratic Palestinian state, including in modern-day Israel. Its adoption by members made it Green Party policy.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs in October that Labour would not partner with the Greens over the policy, which he described as antisemitic. Labour's head office then issued an ultimatum. It demanded that local Greens disown the motion and call on the party's national leadership to reconsider the policy.

The Green Party leader, Zack Polanski, said the motion was imperfect but defended its central premise. He argued that Israel's actions towards Palestinians are underpinned by racist ideology.