Backlash expected over bill banning boycotts of Israel goods

A cross-party backlash is expected over government plans to fine public bodies who initiate boycotts against Israel.

Ministers say the bill, which will be debated on Monday, would stop councils pursuing "their own foreign policy".

Critics argue it is inconsistent with longstanding UK foreign policy towards the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and could prevent support for groups around the world facing persecution.

The Foreign Office and Levelling Up department have been asked to comment.

The planned law - called the Economic Activity of Public Bodies Bill - is being led by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and was a Tory manifesto commitment.

It seeks to prevent public bodies, including councils, from campaigning against, boycotting or sanctioning a particular international territory unless that is endorsed by the UK government's own foreign policy.

The government says the bill, which is being debated on Monday, aims to stop councils and other publicly funded bodies from "pursuing their own foreign policy agendas".

Much of the debate on this issue has focused on boycotts of Israel and Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

A movement called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for broad-based economic and cultural boycotts of Israel and Israel settlements - similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.

Such boycotts are backed by Palestinians who see them as applying pressure on Israel to end its military occupation.

The Israeli government, on the other hand, sees the entire BDS movement as unjustly singling out Israel and as antisemitic.

Mr Gove has previously said such campaigns "undermine the UK's foreign policy" and "lead to appalling antisemitic rhetoric and abuse".

But Labour - and a number of Conservative MPs - have raised concerns about the bill's potential impact on UK foreign policy.

Longstanding UK government policy calls for an end to Israel's military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of a negotiated "two-state solution".

The UK has for decades endorsed the position of international law, under which Israeli settlements are seen as illegal - although Israel disputes this - and sees their expansion as an "obstacle to peace".

The bill doesn't stop public bodies from complying with UK-wide sanctions, and it gives the government the power to make certain countries exempt from the restrictions.

For example, the government intends Russia and Belarus to be exempted.

But the bill doesn't allow the rules to exempt Israel, the Occupied Territories, or the Occupied Golan Heights.

In doing so, it groups the three territories together, which critics argue undermines the UK's foreign policy position by suggesting boycotting Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or Golan Heights would be the same as boycotting Israel - despite the illegality of the former two under international law.

Critics have also raised concerns that the bill would limit campaigns against human rights abuses in other parts of the world - such as against the Uyghur in Xinjiang, China.

Labour have proposed a change to the planned law.

Its amendment says it opposes any "discrimination" by public bodies in how they spend their money and says all public bodies must act "without bias" when making decisions on procurement and investment.

But it says the bill risks "significantly undermining support" for groups around the world facing persecution, for example the Uyghur in China, who are "currently victims of grave and systemic human rights abuses."

It also says it undermines the UK's long-standing cross-party position on the Occupied Territories and Golan Heights by "conflating these with the State of Israel".

Labour have also raised concerns about the bill placing "unprecedented" restrictions on the ability of elected public bodies to express a view, which they say impacts local government pension funds and limits freedom of speech.

Labour MPs are being told to not vote at all.

Some Tory MPs and government insiders have raised concerned about plans. It's understood these include the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns.