Labour tells councils to end green agreements over 'Zionism is racism' policy
Labour chair Bridget Phillipson has told Labour councils sharing power with the Greens to review and end their labour councils green agreements unless Green partners condemn the 'Zionism is racism' policy adopted at the party's Brighton conference in early October 2026.
Labour tells councils to end green agreements over 'Zionism is racism' policy
What Phillipson told councils
Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said groups working with Green party politicians must review their local agreements and end them unless their Green partners reject the controversial motion, adopted at the Green party conference in Brighton at the start of October 2026. Local Green groups were asked to respond urgently.
"Where they are unable to provide that assurance, Labour will bring any such local arrangement to an end."
The motion passed at conference
The binding policy equates Zionism with racism, rejects a two-state solution and calls for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state "with equal rights for all". It passed on 4 October by 1,022 votes to 813, with the winning total representing 0.4% of Green party membership.
Labour and Green reactions
During prime minister's questions on Wednesday, Andy Burnham ruled out a Labour partnership with the Greens: "It is wrong. It is antisemitic, and this side of the house will have nothing to do with it."
A Green party of England and Wales spokesperson said it was disappointing and wrong for Labour to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. "Trying to tell local parties what to do and who they can work with is undemocratic."
Four of the Greens' five MPs opposed the policy, along with several MPs and former leader Caroline Lucas, and the group representing European Green parties expressed dismay. Leader Zack Polanski abstained from the vote to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, which he lost, and later said he would not have voted for the motion without amendments, which were voted down.
Fallout inside the Greens
After the divisive vote, Polanski signalled a potential overhaul of the party's grassroots democracy, calling for leaders to have greater control over strategic direction. The chair of Jewish Greens called for Polanski to resign, and some Jewish members feared disciplinary action over membership of Zionist-supporting organisations including synagogues.
Motion backer Salma Yaqoob gave an assurance: "Nobody will be removed, challenged, disciplined, suspended because they put forward or articulate their belief in Zionism." An amendment protecting members affiliated with Jewish community institutions was nevertheless voted down. The party is highly decentralised with no whipping system, and Southwark Greens disowned the policy to keep a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Where shared councils stand
The instruction affects councils where Labour and the Greens share power. At least 18 councils have coalitions involving the Greens, including:
- West Suffolk, with a Labour-led coalition
- Havant
- Coventry
- Sheffield
- Warwick
- Stafford
Labour will end local arrangements where Green partners cannot give the requested assurance, which groups were asked to provide urgently.
