UK: Labour to stop cooperating with Greens in 11 councils over 'Zionism is racism' vote

Labour has decided to end cooperation with Green councillors in specified councils across England. The immediate reason is a Green Party policy describing Zionism as racism. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said the policy crosses a line and that Labour cannot work with any party supporting it at any level of government.

The decision targets local power-sharing arrangements. These are agreements in which different parties share council leadership or decision-making, even when they disagree nationally. Labour said cooperation would stop in councils including Arun, Sheffield and West Suffolk. Some Green groups have condemned the policy, but Labour says other local parties have not met its conditions.

The Green Party argues that ending these partnerships could destabilise local government. It says Green, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors have worked together to protect services and deliver change. Labour is calling for the Greens to rescind the policy, while Green leader Zack Polanski says the decision will backfire.

Labour says its decision affects 11 councils across England. However, the announcement names only 10 councils. They are Arun, Derbyshire Dales, Havant, Lewes, Sheffield, Stafford, Warwick, Wealden, West Devon and West Suffolk. The article does not identify an eleventh council.

These councils are the places where Labour says cooperation with Green groups will stop. Such cooperation can involve shared leadership or joint decision-making when no party, or no single political group, controls the council alone. Ending it may change how local decisions are negotiated and approved.

The wider dispute also involves six Green council groups that have condemned the motion. They are in Broadland, Monmouthshire, North Somerset, Rother, West Oxfordshire and West Sussex. Those groups are separate from the councils listed for ending cooperation, and the article does not say that Labour is ending partnerships with them.

A power-sharing arrangement in a local council is a working agreement between different political groups. They may share leadership roles, committee influence and responsibility for major decisions. The arrangement allows a council to function when control is divided among parties or independents.

The article gives a direct example of this model. Green, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors have worked together across the country. The Green Party says these partnerships provided stable local government, protected services and delivered positive change. They depend on groups accepting practical cooperation despite wider political disagreements.

Labour’s decision threatens some of those arrangements. Labour says it cannot cooperate with parties supporting the Green policy on Zionism. The Greens say ultimatums can destabilise power-sharing agreements and ignore local leaders and voters. The immediate effect depends on each council’s political balance, which the article does not detail.

Zionism is generally understood as the movement supporting Jewish national self-determination, historically associated with establishing and maintaining a Jewish state in Israel. The article does not provide a full definition, but it describes the Green Party’s position on the issue and its alternative political vision.

At the Green Party’s annual conference in October, party activists voted to recognise Zionism as a form of racism. They also backed a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups, rather than a two-state solution. This policy became the trigger for Labour’s local-government decision.

Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said the motion crosses a line, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham called it antisemitic. The Greens rejected Labour’s criticism and pointed to the government’s supply of weapons to Israel. Green leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, said Labour’s decision would backfire.

The disagreement concerns whether describing Zionism as racism is an attack on Jewish people or a criticism of a political ideology. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said the Green motion crosses a line, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham denounced it as antisemitic. Labour therefore treats support for the motion as incompatible with cooperation.

The Green Party takes a different position. Its activists voted to recognise Zionism as a form of racism while supporting one democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups. The Greens also said they would not take lectures from a government that supplies weapons to Israel. Green leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, defended his party’s position.

The article does not present a broad statement from Jewish politicians or communities. It shows competing political arguments and one Jewish Green leader’s response. Labour demands that the Greens rescind the policy, while the Greens say Labour’s decision will backfire.

When cross-party council partnerships break down, local decision-making can become less stable. Councillors may struggle to agree on leadership, budgets, committees or service priorities. The article does not predict a specific service closure, but it identifies a risk to stable local government and cooperation.

The Green Party says Green, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors have worked together to protect services and deliver positive change. It argues that leaders in these partnerships are proud of what they achieved. Labour’s decision removes cooperation from some councils because of the Greens’ policy on Zionism.

The immediate consequence could be more political conflict and less predictable council management. The Greens say ultimatums have ignored local leaders and voters and disrupted successful partnerships. The final effect will depend on local political arrangements, which the article does not describe in detail.

Political parties may cooperate in local councils because governing requires practical decisions about services, budgets and local priorities. A council may also have divided political control, making agreement necessary to form an administration or pass decisions. Local cooperation can therefore continue even when parties sharply disagree nationally.

The article describes partnerships involving Green, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors. The Green Party says these groups worked together to provide stable local government, protect services and deliver positive change. Their cooperation focused on running councils and serving residents rather than resolving every national political disagreement.

This model is now under pressure. Labour says it cannot work with any party supporting the Green motion on Zionism, while the Greens say Labour is ignoring local leaders and voters. The dispute shows how national issues can affect local governing arrangements, even when those arrangements have been presented as successful.