West Oxfordshire District Green councillors’ open letter to Labour

West Oxfordshire District Green Party councillors have written an open letter to their Labour colleagues calling for dialogue over the future of joint working at West Oxfordshire District Council.

In the letter the councillors express their disappointment that the national Labour Party has ordered its councillors to issue ultimatums over internal Green Party policy – and they offer to meet with the Labour group to discuss future cooperation.

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR LABOUR COLLEAGUES ON WEST OXFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL

Dear Labour Colleagues,

In the week following the October 4th Green Party Conference, we published and made our position clear on the motion that was passed during that conference. This was in response to concerns as to the meaning of the motion and policy statement. It was therefore disappointing to receive your letter of October 15th, which contained an unwarranted ultimatum. We understand that your national party instructed Labour Group Leaders working in partnership with Greens to issue this letter.

As we’ve already made clear, we did not support the “Zionism is Racism” motion. We recognise the concerns of those for whom Zionism has a very different meaning to that defined in the motion. Opposition to all racism, discrimination and bigotry, including antisemitism and islamophobia, are core Green Party values that we all hold dear.

Even though we didn’t agree with it personally, we also respect those who supported and campaigned sincerely for the motion, some of whom were doing so on behalf of the communities that have suffered racial oppression and displacement from their lands under the Israeli Government. It is wrong for your letter and the Prime Minister to claim that the motion was “antisemitic” and “shameful”. We strongly object to the implication that we or our party is antisemitic, an insult you know to be untrue.

We are glad that Labour has at long last sanctioned trade with the illegal settlements in the West Bank.  We look forward to the UK government now stopping all arms sales and military support to Israel, so ending any risk of complicity in the atrocities taking place daily in Gaza and the West Bank.

Everyone has a right to somewhere safe to live. Like you, we desperately want to see peace and democracy. History shows us that it must be up to the people of Palestine and Israel as to what the details of that final settlement should be. For this reason, we do not believe that the motion’s narrow focus on a one-state solution was helpful, but neither do we think it is our role to prescribe a two-state solution, or other specific arrangement. Whatever the final settlement, it should ensure the security and safety of all those who live in the region.

The Green Party is grassroots-driven with a strong culture of open and respectful debate. The Labour Party should not be trying to project how its own party runs onto other democratic parties. The Green Party’s constitution does not allow its leaders to overrule a conference decision. The motion passed at conference sets out a political position. Any changes to that position are a matter for party members at future conference.

Our role as local councillors is to represent all our residents, which includes protecting the rights of both Palestinian and Jewish communities here in the UK. We will continue to push for policy that aligns with and supports this effectively. We are not required to support every party policy, and the Green Party does not have to include every position or policy in its political manifesto.

Working hard for our residents, environment, and safer communities has always been our priority here and we have achieved a lot. People want their councillors to work together for them, and we have always been careful to separate local government collaboration from national party positions. We have valued our good working relationship with Labour colleagues over the four and a half years working together for the benefit of residents in West Oxfordshire. There have sometimes been disagreements on matters of deep principle for many of us. Yet we have never suggested that these disagreements should prevent us from working together to serve our residents. Even when national party policies have substantially differed, or the government’s actions at a national level have fallen short. Today’s decision to approve drilling from the Jackdaw gas field, and recent approval of oil field drilling off the Falkland Islands, is certainly deeply concerning for us, but it shouldn’t be allowed to affect our cooperative work for residents here.

We hope we can continue working together to make West Oxfordshire a safe and welcoming place for all. If there are still genuine concerns about the motion, we would propose an open meeting between our councillor groups. A chance to talk honestly, to listen to one another respectfully, and to find a way forward together, rather than exchanging ultimatums.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Andrew Prosser

Cllr Genny Early

Cllr Sandra Simpson

Cllr Rosie Pearson

—