Palestine Solidarity Campaign accused of intimidating councillors after mass BDS email

Ultimately, the PSC email called for councillors to employ “boycott, divestment and sanctions” (BDS) tactics against the Jewish state by “divesting pensions and any other funds it administers from complicit companies and through its procurement policies.”

Speaking out against the PSC’s tactics, Stuart Fawcett, a Labour councillor in North East Derbyshire district council (NEDDC), told The Times: “I urge all councillors, as I have at NEDDC, to educate themselves of the facts on the world’s only Jewish state before passing scrutiny or comment – especially if it could impact the safety of British Jews. Hyper-criticism of Middle East affairs has no mandate in local politics.”

He went on: “I have seen firsthand the intimidation by the malign forces of militant PSC activism. The action they advocate for does not belong in the legitimate discourse of local government politics but is often insurgent through the culture of pressure and fear that they exert on local councillors who get involved in politics to improve their local communities.”

A tab on the PSC website calls on supporters to email their local councillors (Picture: PSC)[Missing Credit]

Meanwhile, the government’s former adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney, told the paper: “Local councils should be focused on providing cost-effective everyday services for their residents, rather than engaging in sensitive and complex foreign policy matters thousands of miles away.”

Earlier this month the communities secretary warned that local authorities that support the BDS movement could face legal action from affected companies.

Steve Reed told councils they risk being sued by companies that lose money as a result of boycotts, and warned that authorities could be forced to pay damages.

“Councils should stay out of foreign conflicts and get on with the job of delivering local services,” Reed said, according to the Telegraph.

Peter Leary, the deputy director of campaigns at the PSC, said: “Taking such action is well within the remit of local government and polling shows it has strong support from the British public, who rightly expect high ethical and legal standards from their elected representatives.

“It is therefore no surprise that almost 1,000 councillors – including from Labour, the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives – have already made the councillor Pledge for Palestine.”