Labour Party urged by Israeli counterpart to drop G4S boycott

G4S has been embroiled in further controversy this month, amid claims that unnecessary force was used against young offenders at a centre in the UK operated by the firm.

It is reported that some Labour NEC members believe the company should now be dropped for that issue as well as complaints about Israel.

But Israeli Labour Party general secretary Hilik Bar has written to his UK counterpart Iain McNicol urging NEC members to abandon the proposal as it contradicts the party’s stance on boycotts.

Calling for a reversal of November’s decision, Mr Bar said a boycott would “play into the hands of the most radical elements in Palestinian and Israeli societies”.

Grahame Morris MP, Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East chairman, wrote to party leader Jeremy Corbyn , meanwhile, urging him to follow through on the proposal.

Mr Morris - who was forced to apologise last year after appearing to compare Israel to the Nazis – wrote that his group had “campaigned for this decision because it puts the values of social justice, fairness and equality at the very heart of the Labour movement and we applaud the decision as a beacon of good practice”.

He also referred to the allegations against G4S’s work in Britain.

LFPME said 34 Labour MPs, including shadow cabinet members and front-bench shadow ministers, had signed the letter, but has so far declined to name them.