Pro-Palestinian supporters march through London. Photo: Jamie Lorriman
Legislation aimed at stopping councils boycotting Israeli goods is likely to return to Parliament next week, The Telegraph understands.
In June, Michael Gove, the minister for Communities Affairs, introduced a bill that would ban all public bodies from carrying out their own boycott campaigns or divestitures in foreign countries and territories.
The bill was promised in the Conservative manifesto in 2019 after a number of local councils supported the BDS movement ( boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel in government procurement contracts or pension schemes.
Due to the surge in anti-Israel protests following the Hamas terrorist attack on the country and Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, the bill is soon to move to the next stage of consideration in the House of Commons. The Telegraph understands the Government is likely to announce on Thursday that the report stage of the Government Economic Activities (Overseas Affairs) Bill will take place next week.
The third reading of the bill is expected to take place. will happen after the King's speech in November.
'Implementing the foreign policy agenda'
Making the case for the legislation in the summer, Mr Gove said it was “simply wrong for public bodies to waste time and taxpayers' money on pursuing their own foreign policy program.”
He added: “The UK must have a consistent approach to foreign policy set by the UK Government.”
As well as undermining UK foreign policy, he said advice supporting the BDS movement had led to «horrific anti-Semitic rhetoric and abuse».
However, some Conservative MPs have previously expressed concerns about the bill.
In June, Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that while she supported «the principle that taxpayers' money should not be politicized and should not be used to undermine the government's foreign policy,» she disagreed with the decision «in the text of the bill specifically name Israel.” She said: “We should not make country-specific laws because they undermine our foreign policy.”
“I am also concerned about whether it will undermine community cohesion.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party, meanwhile said he was concerned it could prevent government agencies from refusing to buy Chinese-made goods.
«We need to make sure that nothing stands in the way of stopping the use of slave labor from Xinjiang in supply chains,» he said.
However, the government insists that the bill contains exceptions allowing government agencies to boycott goods that involve uses modern slavery.
< p>Returning the bill could put Labor in a difficult position.
“Deeply flawed”
Although the party has strongly supported Israel since the Hamas attack and opposes the BDS movement, it said in July that the bill was “deeply flawed.”
Other organizations also said the bill was “deeply flawed.”
p> said the law would restrict free speech or risk creating more controversy.
Earlier this year, the Union of Jewish Students announced that it opposed the bill.
The proposal passed by the group said: “The UJS reaffirms its support for the democratic right to non-violent protest and opposes the government's proposed boycott bill, which restricts that right and also poses a risk to British Jewish communities and many people. back to Israeli-Palestinian peace.»
Until 2019, Leicester City Council, Swansea City Council and Gwynedd Council passed proposals to boycott products from «illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank until Israel complied with them requirements». with international law and withdraws from the Palestinian-occupied territories.”
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