Labour ends power-sharing with Greens in 11 councils over Zionism row

The Labour Party has pulled out of power-sharing agreements with the Green Party in 11 local councils, after the national party adopted a policy defining Zionism as a form of racism. Labour councillors will no longer be in coalition with the Greens in areas including Sheffield, Warwick and Lewes. Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said: "Labour has been clear from the start that the 'Zionism is Racism' policy crosses a line and we cannot work with any party that supports it – at any level of government." The Green Party has been contacted for a comment. In October, Green Party members backed a motion, entitled "Zionism is racism", which said Zionism was an ideology that supported an "ethnonationalist Jewish State in historic Palestine". It also backed a "single democratic Palestinian State", including in modern-day Israel. Having been backed by party members, the motion became Green Party policy, but it has left senior figures bitterly divided. Jewish groups and opposition political parties have condemned it. Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs in October that Labour would not partner with the Greens over what he described as the "antisemitic" policy. Labour then issued an ultimatum from the party's head office to Labour-Green councils, demanding that local Greens disown the motion passed by members at their national party conference. Green groups were also asked to call on their party's national leadership to reconsider the policy. Labour said there were local agreements in place in 18 authorities, and that 11 of those had not met the criteria it demanded. The affected councils include Sheffield, Warwick, Lewes, Calderdale, Folkestone and Hythe, Hastings, Kirklees, Lancaster, Merton, Oldham and Solihull. Labour said local co-operation had already ceased at Runnymede Borough Council. The party said its conditions had been met in Broadland, Monmouthshire, North Somerset, Rother, West Oxfordshire and West Sussex. Labour added that Coventry City Council does not have a formal arrangement in place and that no such deal will be made in the future. Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said the motion was "imperfect" but has defended its central premise, arguing that Israel's actions towards the Palestinian people are "clearly underpinned by racist ideology". The collapse of co-operation at local level could affect hundreds of thousands of residents, with budgets and policy decisions potentially taking longer to get voted through.