Last night the Birmingham Liberal Democrat group voted for a motion brought by Cllr Nosheen Khalid and Cllr Jamil Khan of the Better Birmingham Group and amended by the Green Group, which seeks to ensure the council has an ethical procurement and investment process. The amended motion passed with 54 votes for and 19 against.
We voted for it because we feel strongly that we don’t want to see the council we represent investing or entering into procurement with any organisation that enables, supports or profits, from war crimes, murder of children, oppression against any nation, part of a nation or community within a nation, or from environmental crimes, anywhere across the world.
The motion in full can be read here:
We recognise that the proposers of the motion focused primarily on the Israeli governments actions in Gaza and the West Bank, whereas we felt the policy should not single out one country but also include Russia and any other regime across the world complicit in war crimes or oppression.
We acknowledge that the reaction to the motion has caused concern amongst the Jewish community as well as a rise in anti Islamic rhetoric on social media. We remain totally committed to the Fairer Birmingham Partnership Agreement drawn up with our Administration partners. We have always been clear that antisemitism, racism, and all forms of hatred have no place in our society.
