Mike Cushman
A High Court judge has ruled that the Government was exceeding its power in trying to direct Local Government Pension Funds to ignore calls for BDS and abandon ethical investing. The Government, he said: “has acted for an unauthorised purpose and therefore unlawfully“.
Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has a record of fierce partisanship in favour of Israel. As Culture Secretary he lobbied hard to punish the Tricycle Theatre for declining to accept Israeli Embassy funding. In his current post he attempted to misuse the review of Local Government pension regulations to prohibit funds from taking Israeli Human Rights abuses and other ethical considerations into account when deciding investment priorities. He sought to include
“In formulating and maintaining their policy on social,
environmental and corporate governance factors,
an administering authority…• Should not pursue policies that are contrary to UK foreign
policy or UK defence policy.”
in the guidance.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign crowdfunded a judicial review of this manifestly politically motivated and partisan restriction.
Continue reading “Judge tells Government: allow BDS”