Green Party considers proposal for circumcision ban

The Green Party’s Health Policy Working Group is understood to be considering a proposal to recommend supporting a policy of banning circumcision, which would affect both Jews and Muslims in the UK.

As reported by The Spectator, the Green’s Health Policy Working Group (HPWG) has launched a consultation seeking views on whether parents should only be allowed to consent “to an irreversible surgical procedure on a child if that procedure is medically necessary”, as well as asking members to provide feedback on whether “non-therapeutic male circumcision should only be performed on children who are old enough to make an informed choice.”

In 2018, Iceland became the first European country to ban circumcision for non-medical reasons, a move which was strongly criticised by both Jewish and Muslim leaders at the time. While Iceland’s ban had cross-party consensus, such policy proposals have been used by far right European parties – such as Germany’s AfD and Sweden’s Swedish Democrats – as a tool to try and target Jewish and Muslim communities.

The Spectator reported that the consultation officer of HPWG contacted party members with a survey which included questions on this topic, saying that “helping us to respond to this survey will be a huge help in ensuring the Green Party has an updated Health Policy from this Autumn.” The Greens are due to hold their Autumn conference this September, when a highly controversial “Zionism is Racism” motion also seems likely to be debated.

By Jewish law, boys are circumcised when they are 8 days old, unless there are medical considerations which would such a procedure hazardous. Circumcision is also widely performed within the Muslim community, though usually when a child is somewhat older.

The Greens adopting such a policy would likely decimate the party’s support among the Muslim community, where it has made significant inroads over the last few years by developing a strident anti-Israel stance. It would also likely negatively impact support for the Green party in areas with large numbers of strictly orthodox Jews – particularly Hackney, where the Greens recently won control both of the council and the local mayoralty. While many strictly orthodox Jews are non-Zionist and therefore relatively unfazed by the Green party’s anti-Israel rhetoric, adopting a policy of banning of circumcision would be seen as a direct attack on Jewish life and freedom of religion.

A Green party spokesperson said: ‘Our Policy Working Groups are made up of members who work autonomously on policy exploration and formation projects. This is not party policy. The only way for anything to become party policy is through a vote at conference.’

In January, Jewish organisations expressed concern after reports that draft guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service suggested that circumcision, if carried out improperly, could amount to “child abuse”.

In response the CPS said: “We absolutely recognise that for many, male circumcision is a safe and celebrated tradition.

“However, while circumcision is legal, we have recently prosecuted cases where significant harm and distress have been caused to victims where this procedure has been carried out improperly and in unsafe circumstances.”

At the time, Jonathan Arkush, co-chair of Milah UK, said the organisation was confident the government understood the sensitivity of the issue for Jewish families.

“We are confident that the importance of this issue to our community is respected and understood by the UK government, and we will ensure any public guidance that is to be considered respects Jewish practice,” he said.

“Throughout, our focus is on the importance of circumcision being practised safely for everyone, and on highlighting the robust training, regulation and safeguarding processes followed within our community, so that this essential tenet of our faith can be carried out with care and confidence.”