A senior British minister has warned Labour administered councils that they could be sued for boycotting Israeli businesses.

The threat comes after multiple local authorities in the past year voted to boycott companies complicit in Israeli war crimes, arm Israel or benefit from its occupation of Palestinian territory.

“Councils should stay out of foreign conflicts and get on with the job of delivering local services,” Communities Secretary Steve Reed said.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded in 2005 as a means of non-violently pressuring Israel to comply with its obligations under international law.

In opposition the Labour Party opposed a bill brought by the Conservative government in 2024 banning public bodies from divesting in Israel.

But speaking over the weekend, Reed pointed local councils to government guidance published in 2016 which prohibits procurement boycotts against Israeli firms and firms which trade with Israel.

Reed said that councils could be sued under the Procurement Act 2023 over their boycotts by suppliers who lose money, and could be required to pay damages.

In March, Oxford City Council passed a motion supporting the BDS movement against Israel, citing International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings.

The council resolved to avoid trade and investment relations and cooperation with entities complicit in violations of human rights and international law.

Labour-run Cumberland council also said it would withdraw investments from companies supplying weapons to Israel.

Crackdown on pro-Palestine activism

In December, Labour-run Newcastle council passed a motion committing to review its financial ties with companies “complicit with the genocide and/or illegal occupation” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. 

And the pension funds of numerous councils – including Islington, Lewisham, Wandsworth and Caerphilly – have excluded companies on the United Nations list of businesses involved in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Ex-senior army officers urge UK to ‘cut all military collaboration with Israel’

Read More »

Reed’s warning comes amid what many activists and commentators have described as a crackdown on pro-Palestine activism in Britain.

In late December the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police forces announced they will arrest people for chanting “globalise the intifada” or holding placards displaying the phrase.

Pro-Palestine activists have strongly denied that “globalise the intifada” is antisemitic or a call for violence, and British Jews have been prominent in pro-Palestine marches in the UK. 

Intifada comes from the Arabic root word nafada, which means “to shake off” or “to rise up”, and translates to “uprising”.

Meanwhile, seven UN human rights experts warned the UK government that eight pro-Palestine activists imprisoned on charges linked to the direct action group Palestine Action who are on hunger strike risk organ failure and death.

Britain proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation last year.

The call for urgent action came after lawyers representing the prisoners on hunger strike said the UK’s Justice Secretary David Lammy refused their request to meet for urgent negotiations.

Lawyers are now launching legal action against the UK government for refusing to meet with the prisoners.