Green Party leaders have ‘questions to answer’ Home Secretary tells Commons
Shabana Mahmood also told Green councillors after passing of Zionism is racism motion 'the law will not allow any prejudicial treatment of any of our citizens based on their protected characteristics'
Green Party leaders have “questions to answer” regarding the safety and security of their Jewish members, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs.
Speaking in the House of Commons after the passing of the “Zionism is racism” motion, Mahmood warned elected Green Party councillors: “Every council, regardless of who is the political party running that council, has to follow the law, and the law will not allow any prejudicial treatment of any of our citizens based on their protected characteristics, whether their race or their religion.”
She emphasised that this legal duty applied to all communities, including Jews, adding: “Nobody has the right to freelance on equality policy. It is set by the government.”
“There is a clear legal framework, and every council has to follow it.”
Mahmood was responding to a question from Jewish Labour MP Peter Prinsley, who said he was “deeply disturbed” that the Green Party conference had passed the motion last Sunday.
Declaring himself a Zionist—”on the basis that this implied the right to Jewish self-determination in their ancestral homeland”—Prinsley said there are now Jews in areas with elected Green councillors who are worried about the impact of the motion and possible prejudice.
Mahmood noted, “the policies of another party are primarily for that political party, I would expect them to have to explain the impact of their motion on the safety and security of Jews in their own party.”
She continued: “I believe there are questions for the Green Party leadership to look at and to answer for.”