Labour ends coalition with Greens in Sheffield over ‘Zionism is racism’ motion

Labour has terminated its cooperation with the Greens on Sheffield City Council following the passing of the motion ‘Zionism is racism’ motion at the Green Party’s autumn conference in Brighton last month.

Until today, Sheffield was run by a joint administration of Labour and the Greens, with the former having 26 seats on the council and the latter 19.

In a statement, the Labour leader of Sheffield council – Fran Belbin – said: “Since the Greens passed the “Zionism is Racism” motion at their conference at the start of October, Sheffield Labour has been trying to find a way to address the concerns of many of our citizens about the motion and to enable us to continue to work together. However we now feel we are at the end of the road with the joint administration, and the people of Sheffield deserve to know why.”

Belbin went on to add: “The Greens that we formed a joint administration with feel like a very different organisation now – while many individual Green members/ex-members and administrations around the country have put out clear statements that address the problems with the motion, including most of their MPs, in Sheffield there has been no movement at all.”

The statement concluded: “Sheffield Labour will put Sheffield first, we will fight ALL forms of racism, and we will put all our focus on the issues that matter most to our citizens, including tackling poverty, improving our neighbourhoods and creating opportunities for young people. We will never stop calling for justice for Palestinians, that matters so much to so many of us.

“I do not want to lead an administration that is characterised by division and hatred. We are one Sheffield made up of many communities, and Sheffield Labour will keep working to bring communities together to overcome differences, not entrench them.”

Elsewhere in the statement, Belbin said Labour would seek to form a minority administration later this week. Labour is 16 seats short of a majority on the council and therefore would need the votes of other parties – either Liberal Democrats (who have 22 seats) or Reform and independents (who together have 17 seats) in order to take control of the council on their own without the Greens.

Labour’s decision to cease running Sheffield jointly with the Greens comes as a result of the party centrally instructing all local Labour groups to terminate joint-administrations where the local Green group has not publicly condemned the ‘Zionism is racism’ motion.

Sheffield Green Party has responded fiercely to Labour’s decision. In a statement, the Green councillor group said: “It is so sad to hear that Sheffield Labour have failed to stand up for Sheffield. They are throwing away our joint working agreement because of top-down demands from London.

“Labour’s ultimatum was never really about the conduct of Green Councillors in Sheffield, who are wholeheartedly committed to this city. It came from Labour HQ in London and is a really troubling attack on local democracy.

“Sheffield deserves so much better than a Labour council leadership decided by national party management who are happy to play political games with all our futures.

“Over the last few years, we have disagreed with many Labour policies, such as cutting vital support for disabled people and pensioners, their acts of climate vandalism and obsession with fossil fuels and airports, cutting funding for warm homes, arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza and jailing people for supporting Palestinians by protesting peacefully.

“Yet we have put our responsibilities to the people of Sheffield first – by working cross-party and having a positive influence on delivering local policy.”

The statement went on to read: “We have offered to work through this. We are willing to keep talking and, from our perspective, the door remains open. It seems clear, however, that the decision about Sheffield Council was not a decision the Sheffield Labour Leader was allowed to make in the interests of Sheffield residents.

“Local people have just been used as pawns in a cynical political game being played by Labour at a national level.

“Labour owns the consequences and they alone will have to explain to the people of Sheffield why they’ve put party politics over local residents.”

Sheffield Labour’s decision follows a similar move in Lewes, where the Labour and Green groups have ‘mutually’ ended their joint administration, citing ‘national context’ and ‘unnecessary pressures’ from outside the council.

The ‘Zionism is racism’ saw the Green Party argue: “The real, material manifestation of Zionism has been the historic and ongoing dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians. This is based upon European settler-colonial systems of domination and oppression, which has also created racial hierarchies between Jews of different ethnicities in Palestine.”

Alongside this, the motion committed the Green Party to supporting a ‘one-state solution’. The motion saw the Greens support: “the establishment of a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, equal rights for all, and the right of return for Palestinians and their descendants.”

Labour is expected to soon announce which other local coalitions with the Greens it will end as a result of the motion.

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward