Three Labour MPs representing Birmingham constituencies have urged the city council’s Liberal Democrat leader to end his power-sharing arrangement with the Greens unless the party’s councillors disown its “Zionism is racism” policy.
Al Carns, Jess Phillips and Preet Kaur Gill called on council leader Roger Harmer to demand that Green councillors serving in his administration publicly reject the “abhorrent” policy in a letter dated October 22.
“If they are unwilling to do so, then we ask that you show moral fibre and bring your power sharing agreement with the Greens in Birmingham to an immediate end,” wrote the signatories, which also included Baroness Morris of Yardley, Lord Rooker, Lord McCabe and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath.
The letter represented a significant escalation in pressure on Harmer, whose coalition with the Greens and independent councillors was formed following May’s local elections.
Opening their letter, the politicians expressed “serious concern about the current administration of Birmingham City Council” following the Green Party’s decision to adopt the motion at its conference earlier this month.
They described the policy as “an abhorrent step” and argued that it “will do nothing to help the Palestinian or Israeli people”.
The letter went on to say that the policy echoed “anti-Jewish movements from the Soviet Union, the National Front and terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah”, adding: “It is itself racist, discriminatory and extremist.”
The signatories also expressed particular alarm that Green Party members had rejected an amendment intended to protect members affiliated with Jewish communal institutions.
The amendment stated that the policy should not be used to “pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliations with Jewish community institutions”.
Calling its rejection “a frightening step”, the MPs and peers wrote that it risked labelling Jewish people who attend synagogue as “racist”.
They continued: “Zionism is simply the belief that Jews should have a homeland, nothing more or less. It was an ideology born out of centuries of persecution. The state of Israel was formed following the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.”
The letter added that Zionism is “a view shared by the majority of Jewish people worldwide”.
Acknowledging that Jewish people hold differing views about Israel, the signatories wrote: “Like any diverse group, those who consider themselves Zionists may disagree profoundly about Israel, her actions and even her borders. But they fundamentally agree in Israel’s right to exist.”
They argued that the Green Party’s position threatened British Jewish life, describing it as part of “an ongoing attack on the safety and wellbeing of British Jews”.
The letter also highlighted Birmingham City Council’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism in 2017, stating that the continued partnership with the Greens was “an intolerable state of affairs”, particularly given the city’s record of fighting racism.
The politicians named Green councillor Kamel Hawwash, the council’s cabinet member for Children and Young Families, as having previously voted in favour of the policy. Councillor Duncan Ali has also publicly expressed support for it.
Council leader Harmer has previously resisted calls to abandon the partnership, insisting that disagreements over national party policy need not prevent the coalition from governing Birmingham.
Speaking to BirminghamLive, he said: “I do not agree with the Greens on this. It was a bad decision. I was surprised that it was agreed.”
He argued that the coalition’s governing agreement should take precedence over differences arising from individual parties’ conference decisions, adding: “You don’t have to magic away those differences to run a stable administration, you need a clear process of handling them and that is what we have.”
Birmingham’s Green Party councillors have meanwhile maintained that they are committed to representing the city’s diverse communities and opposing antisemitism.
In a statement issued earlier this month, the group said Jewish residents had “an absolute right to feel safe and valued in a city they helped to build”.
It added: “Antisemitism and criticism of actions by the Israeli state are and must always be completely distinct. Blurring the line between the two is not only wrong but antisemitic and makes Jewish people feel less safe.”
The Green Party adopted the “Zionism is Racism” motion at its Brighton conference on October 4, with 1,022 votes in favour and 813 against. The decision has exposed divisions within the party, with four of its five MPs publicly distancing themselves from the policy.
The signatories concluded their letter by urging Harmer to act “in the interests of defending the city’s democracy from extremists and racists”, adding: “It is the right thing to do.”
The councillors said they were awaiting Mr Harmer’s response “with urgency”.
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