The leadership of Sheffield City Council has been plunged into turmoil, as the Labour Party plans to cut ties with local Greens who don’t condemn the Party’s ‘Zionism is racism’ motion.
Let’s go back to 4 October. It’s the final day of the Green Party conference in Brighton and members have just passed a landmark motion which condemns Zionism as racism. The definition of Zionism is contested, but broadly speaking it is the right to self-determination for Jewish people in their ancestral homeland.
The motion, which supports a single Palestinian state with ‘equal rights for all’, was backed by 1,022 members, whilst 813 voted against it. Four out of five Green MPs publicly opposed the motion prior to voting, warning that it risked alienating Jewish members and oversimplifying one of the most contested political terms.
Green Party Leader Zack Polanski did not cast a vote as he was campaigning for the Holborn and St Pancras By election, which he lost, but has since said he would not have voted for the motion in its current form.
The motion, which establishes the Green Party as the first mainstream party in Europe to declare itself openly anti-Zionist, has drawn widespread criticism from all corners of the House of Commons. Prime Minister Andy Burnham condemned the motion ‘unequivocally’ saying ‘It is wrong and it is antisemitic.’ Kemi Badenoch, Sir Ed Davey and Nigel Farage all spoke out against it as well.
But how exactly has this created a conflict amongst the leadership of Sheffield City Council?
On 15 October the National Labour Party Chairwomen, Bridget Phillipson, said that local cooperation with the Greens must end unless they reject the ‘Zionism is racism’ motion. This has caused a significant problem here in Sheffield, as the council is run by a joint administration between the Labour Party and the Greens.
The Labour Leader of Sheffield City Council Fran Belbin,who described the motion as ‘shameful’, wrote to the leader of the Sheffield Greens, urging her group to ‘publicly reject the motion.’
This has not happened, with the leader of the Sheffield Greens confirming the group will not back down. Councillor Angela Argenzio said in a social media statement: “This administration failing would be disastrous for the city, it’s embarrassing that Labour wants to tear it up for political points scoring.”
She added: “The people of this city trust us to deliver for them with fairness and inclusivity and will see right through Burnham’s political games.”
This leaves the joint administration in a standoff and at present an agreement looks far from imminent. It is possible that the Labour group forms a minority administration, leading the council but without a majority, which could make legislating extremely difficult.
