UK
NEU cuts ties with defence sector in anti-Israel motion
The teaching union found time at its conference to condemn the Jewish state, label Reform UK ‘racist’ and reject a government pay offer
April 16, 2025 10:44
The teaching union found time at its conference to condemn the Jewish state, label Reform UK ‘racist’ and reject a government pay offer
April 16, 2025 10:44Britain’s largest teaching union has voted to sever ties between schools and the defence industry, including banning manufacturers from offering work experience, internships and funding for school events as it passed its latest set of anti-Israel measures.
In an amendment to a motion on Palestine, delegates at the National Education Union’s (NEU) annual conference in Harrogate backed a proposal to “affiliate with the 'Disarm Education' campaign advocating for schools and colleges to publicly commit to end or prohibit careers collaborations and partnerships with arms companies”.
The move puts in jeopardy millions of pounds spent annually by defence companies on education outreach, including STEM programmes, careers advice and apprenticeships.
In 2022 alone, British arms firm BAE Systems invested “£100 million in education skills, and early careers,” the amendment noted. “They have visited over 5,000 schools through their STEM roadshow, reaching over 1.3 million pupils,” it added.
Similarly, according to the Aerospace, Defence and Security Group (ADS), the industry directly employed 147,500 people in 2023, including 6,900 apprentices. The sector’s turnover hit £22.8 billion in 2022, with a £9.8 billion value added to the economy.
The Palestine motion was one of two international motions at the conference (the other offering ‘solidarity’ with Ukraine) and asserted that it was “plausible” Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Delegates backed a call for “an immediate two-way arms embargo with Israel.”
The motion also urged teacher pension funds be divested from firms “complicit in violations of human rights and international law,” and called for schools to increase resources “to raise awareness about the situation in Palestine.” The JC has previously reported on anti-Israel materials being distributed in UK classrooms, though these were published by a different union not affiliated with the NEU.
Likewise, it referred to what it described as “scholasticide” in Gaza, claiming, “this is the second year children have had no access to schooling”. Online learning resumed for some pupils in Gaza in February.
The motion claimed: “Israel's offensive in Gaza follows decades of violations of Palestinian human rights and international law, ethnic cleansing, and the imposition of a system of oppression against all Palestinians… recognised internationally as meeting the legal definition of apartheid.” It made no mention of Hamas.
The measure reaffirmed the NEU’s support for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Stop the War organisations. The union voted to “advertise national and local PSC demonstrations and encourage members to attend with trade union banners”.
Delegates also called for the NEU itself to “advertise the national days of action to members and encourage them to take part within contractual arrangements”.
And the union’s International Solidarity Fund revealed that it had nearly £300,000 earmarked for Palestine, compared to just £40,000 to a Send My Friend To School initiative, which aims to provide for children to go to school in regions where educational opportunities are limited.
The NEU’s general secretary, Daniel Kebede, has previously faced criticism for pursuing an anti-Israel agenda, particularly after the October 7 Hamas-led attacks.
He has frequently appeared at PSC rallies and has campaigned alongside a number of controversial figures. At the NEU conference last year, he spoke at a fringe event with Anas Altikriti, who has said that hostage-taking is a “very important part” of any “act of resistance” and claimed that Israel is “mimicking” Nazis.
In 2021, Kebede told a Newcastle rally “it’s about time we globalise the intifada.”
Elsewhere at the conference, delegates passed a motion condemning Reform UK as a “racist and far-right” party because of its immigration policies, accusing it of “scapegoating Muslims, Jews and others who do not fit their beliefs”.
It claimed that the party, led by Nigel Farage, seeks “to build on the despair, poverty and alienation in our society by scapegoating refugees, asylum seekers, Muslims, Jews and others who do not fit their beliefs”.
NEU delegates voted to use the union’s political fund to campaign against Reform UK election candidates.
Speakers in favour of the motion argued that some Reform UK candidates “have been former members of fascist organisations or espoused their views”.
Kathryn Norouzi, an NEU delegate from Nottingham, said: “That’s why we must call this party out for what it is, a racist party, and we must campaign against them. [Their policies] are designed to incite fear and division.
“As a union we must have the courage and clarity to oppose them. And we must be willing to use our political fund, the very fund created specifically to persuade people not to vote for political parties and their candidates who promote racist, fascist or similar views, to do just that.”
And finally, delegates voted to consider strike action later this year if the government fails to improve its 2.8 per cent pay offer, which the NEU said was inadequate and underfunded. If the government does not increase its pay offer, union members could be balloted for strike action, with industrial action possible in Autumn 2025.