Camden Town Hall

A PLAN for a cross-party climate emergency taskforce looks set to be halted, with the Greens finding that no other party wants to work with them in Camden following its ‘Zionism is racism’ motion.

Green members backed a policy which calls for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state with “equal rights for all” at their conference in Brighton on Sunday.

There were celebrations in the centre when the results were announced among some, but other members looked distraught.

There have been arguments over how Zionism should be defined, but proposers of the motion say the way it has been applied amounted to racism.

Opponents say it is a simple right for there to be a safe Jewish homeland.

The fallout from the debate had reached Camden by Monday, when the Liberal Democrats made clear that they were no longer willing to work on the climate project with Green councillors.

Councillor Tom Simon, the Lib Dem leader in Camden, raised concerns about how some amendments to the motion passed in the debating hall in Brighton had not been adopted.

“They had the opportunity to protect British, Jewish, Green Party members who attend synagogues or Green Party members who attend synagogues or volunteer for Jewish charities from disciplinary action by the party, and they chose not to take it,” he said.

“With these votes, the Green Party has crossed a line. The rights to manifest one’s religion and of freedom of association are fundamental human rights, and these are now at risk.”

A statement by Green leader Zack Polanski, who is standing in today’s Holborn and St Pancras by-election, issued on Sunday evening alongside the party’s five MPs, including former Camden councillor Sian Berry, said: “We will continue to stand in opposition to genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and the illegal occupation. We will continue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government. “And we will continue to work to ensure that the Green Party is an anti-racist party in every way  “We know there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.”

Mr Polanski has faced criticism for not attending the vote and had urged members to leave Brighton before it had even taken place so they could help his by-election campaign.

The vote ended 1,022 in favour and 813 against.

Councillor Lorna Jane Russell, the leader of the Green group in Camden, had appealed for all members to get involved in the climate change project during a speech at last month’s full council meeting.

The ruling Labour group had already been wary of the taskforce and there is now little chance of close working relationships between their councillors and the official opposition – a partnership between the Greens and the Camden People’s Alliance – on any Town Hall work.

The Tories in Camden are also unwilling to get involved in the environmental investigation, with some of their members now calling the Greens “institutionally racist”.

It is understood the Green group on the council will meet next week, but there has been no local comment so far in response to the passing of the motion.