Northern Ireland council backs down on boycott

A council’s plan to boycott Israel has been shelved after pro-Israel lawyers warned that it could break the law.

Members of Newry and Mourne District Council in Northern Ireland were expected to vote on a motion at a meeting on Monday.

But councillors decided to postpone the decision until September after the UK Lawyers for Israel group informed them a boycott could be in breach of equality legislation.

Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor Connaire McGreevy had proposed banning all “trade and investment” because of “Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories”.