John McDonnell will vote against the egregious Boycott Bill
JVL Introduction
John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor, has publicly committed to voting against the dreadful anti Boycott Bill about which we have previously published. We are pleased that at least one MP is willing to defy Starmer’s decision to whip MPs to abstain. We sincerely hope that his action encourages others to follow . Here John McDonnell explains his reasons for supporting boycott as a way of protesting injustice and more. He concludes by saying that “I have to follow my conscience and I do not want to live a life where I am always having to look over my shoulder politically for fear of what attack may come from this right-wing faction for not following an ever changing party line or where people’s right to abide by their consciences and judgements is not respected. (my emph)
So I will vote against this egregious and divisive Bill at every opportunity.” (LL)
This article was originally published by Labour Outlook on Sun 2 Jul 2023. Read the original here.
“I will vote against this egregious & divisive Bill at every opportunity” – John McDonnell on anti-boycott bill
“This is one of those issues that one has to follow one’s conscience. That’s why I will vote against.”
I have been involved in successive boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaigns for decades.
In the 1980s I remember one Christmas morning singing carols as part of the City of London Anti Apartheid Groups 24 hour permanent picket of the South African Embassy that went on for years, calling for sanctions to be used to secure Nelson Mandela’s freedom.
I was one of the organisers of the demonstrations opposing the royal visit of the Saudi leaders, over a decade ago where we called for no public contracts to be awarded to companies operating in Saudi Arabia at a time when they were beheading people for being gay. Later the ban focussed on UK military support for the Saudi attacks on Yemen.
The list of the BDS campaigns I have supported over the years just goes on;
Against the Bahraini regime for the ongoing brutal suppression of the country’s democratic movement and continuing imprisonment of opposition political leaders.
Against the Sri Lankan administration for its genocidal attack on the Tamils and the continuing abuse of human rights, the torture, the disappearances and colonisation of Tamil homelands.
Sanctions against the military junta in Myanmar to halt the attacks on the Rohingyas and to demand the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Supporting the boycott of goods coming from the Palestinian territories occupied illegally by Israel, when a large crowd of young people in my constituency protesting at the killings of Palestinian young people in Gaza visited local shops in Hayes town centre to ask them not to sell these goods.
There has been some reference to BDS campaigns being associated with antisemitism.
But that is not what I have witnessed in my constituency .
If there is any evidence of this, then we already have the laws to deal with it and I believe the full force the law against racist behaviour should be deployed.
More recently I have called for sanctions against the Chinese government for the barbaric treatment of the Uyghurs but also for the imprisonment of my Unite trade unions friends in Hong Kong simply for demanding adherence to the democracy they were promised.
And of course, as a founder of the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign I have supported the sanctions against Russia because of the invasion and war crimes.
The focus of all these campaigns has been to press for action from government but also from local councils, pension funds, private companies and investors.
One of the pension funds that has been targeted is the Local Government Pension Fund of which I am a member.
The funds it invests are my money.
They are my stored wages. It should be for me and my fellow pension fund members to determine the investment policies of the fund not government dictat.
All my political life I have been involved in non violent boycott campaigns against regimes abusing human rights.
I have argued for and lobbied councils, pension funds and other public bodies to use their influence to uphold human rights across the globe by boycotting and divesting.
These campaigns have also reflected the demands of the diverse communities in my constituency.
The advice of dozens of rights organisations, human rights lawyers and the trade unions have made it clear that this activity will be outlawed and for decision makers to even talk about this strategy will become illegal.
The Labour whip is telling Labour MPs to vote for a “reasoned amendment,” which calls on the government to come forward with alternatives to its proposals, and once that is lost, we are being whipped to abstain, with the possibility that we vote against at 3rd reading.
This is despite every lawyer from human rights organisations and affiliated trade unions saying the bill is unamendable and urging a vote against.
It has been a long, worthy and honourable tradition from the foundation of the party that the right of a member to follow their conscience is respected.
This is one of those issues that one has to follow one’s conscience.
That’s why I will vote against.
I couldn’t look my constituents in the face or indeed myself in the mirror if I didn’t.
Given the factional behaviour of some exercising power in the party at the moment it’s very possible some will try to seize upon this to cause more division in the party.
I have to follow my conscience and I do not want to live a life where I am always having to look over my shoulder politically for fear of what attack may come from this right-wing faction for not following an ever changing party line or where people’s right to abide by their consciences and judgements is not respected.
So I will vote against this egregious and divisive Bill at every opportunity.
Well done John!
I weep (and rail) at what Labour’s become.
I don’t think John is that worried about being slung out of Labour so I’ll take that with a pinch of salt as I really don’t think Starmer sees him as any threat, unlike Corbyn. I wish he’d do more than just send desperate tweets when yet another leftie is expelled or barred from a longlist – but that’s why he’s no threat… Happy to be proved wrong.
I could not agree more. John, your life of activism reflects my own. I care about people and that is why I fight against injustice wherever I find it and I have since my teenage years; it is part of who I am. It is a manifestation of my love for mankind. Though I fight for animals too. I have been expelled from the Labour Party along with many others for my concern for the Palestinian people and thus criticism of Israel. The current Labour Party is unrecognisable to me as a party of socialistic thinking.
Thank goodness someone has the courage to do this. Well done John.
Thank you John!
I could put it no better than Linda. Thank you for your eloquence, Linda
Thank you, John. Glad to see you setting an example. Hope many other MPs will follow you and vote against this bill.
Too little too late. If only he hadn’t been so spineless re. Palestine, BDS when JC was Leader… Sorry to be a party-pooper on this.
But of course better late than never.
If only John had stood for the leadership! He wd certainly have had my vote, and there wd have been no witch hunt and mass departures and no casual pledges to be broken almost as soon as they are made. In the event of another leadership election, I trust John will prove his mettle and put his name forward. Unlike the press pundits, I see another tory victory at the next GE as all too probable, in view of the degree of demoralisation Starmer has brought to the party. That will be John’s last chance, and I hope for all our sakes he seizes it.
This MP has backbone – I would like to have seems this principled argument made by Keir Starmer.
Thank you John. You genuinely care about justice for all people. I do hope others follow suit and do the same. I’m horrified at what’s happened to the Labour Party and feel it will come back and bite them – deservedly. That won’t help the country though.
Dave, take WHAT with a pinch of salt? Could you clarify what you mean please? And you say you wish John would do more etc, etc, by way of criticising him, and yet what more could he do that would make the slightest bit of difference! Absolutely nothing of course. So why criticise him?! It doesn’t make sense…… unless you’ve got an agenda, that is!
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Anyway, I just did a search to see how much coverage this Bill has been getting in the MSM, and the opposition to it, and it seems to be limited to the ‘broadsheets’ (and very little about the scale of opposition to the Bill). In one Guardian article on June 17 it says the following:
The Telegraph reported that Michael Gove, the Cabinet minister responsible for local government, will introduce the legislation. Gove told the paper that the boycott of goods from Israel leads to “appalling antisemitic rhetoric and abuse”.
He said: “It is simply wrong that public bodies have been wasting taxpayers’ time and money pursuing their own foreign policy agenda.
“The UK must have a consistent approach to foreign policy, set by UK government.
“These campaigns not only undermine the UK’s foreign policy but lead to appalling antisemitic rhetoric and abuse. That is why we have taken this decisive action to stop these disruptive policies once and for all.”
Well if THAT’s the case – and given that BDS has been around since 2005 – then how come it’s taken so long to take action??? Needless to say, Gove is spouting complete and utter bollards.
Yes, I wonder how many of these cases of ‘appalling antisemitic rhetoric and abuse’ (that somehow stemmed from the BDS campaigns) were reported to the police. None whatsoever of course!
Well well …
https://labourlist.org/2023/07/anti-boycott-bill-uk-israel-bds-councils-sanctions-parliament-vote/
So where does that leave the abstention policy now?
To Allan – John says “I do not want to live a life where I am always having to look over my shoulder politically” etc but I don’t think the Labour right find him any threat whatsoever. If Starmer withdraws the whip from him I’d be pleasantly surprised.
Dennis, you obviously missed this, from six years ago (when Jeremy was leader), which took me less than a minute to find):
‘John McDonnell accuses Israel of attempted genocide’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msCzMmHgrXc
It doubtful anyone will dispute John McD is capable of articulating decent leftist politics. But probably what Dave is alluding to, is the question does JM have much of a spine? It’s easy to be traditionally radical when the leader is Jeremy Corbyn. But JM has gone from criticising the Iraq War to sharing a platform with ‘blood on his hands ‘Alastair ‘dodgy dossier’ Campbell.
And when the wind changed from Starmer’s betrayals, and the expulsions started of socialists groups, when free speech and free association were banned, and when Diane Abbott was smeared – with the exception of praising Ken Loach – JM trod very carefully and often had his head down.
It is easy to ask other people to be brave, but this is the life he chose, and he has for sometime been very quiet about political values he had supposedly based his life upon?
Feel free to prove leftwing critics wrong John McDonnel.
Does he have much of a spine? I can only assume you missed John’s recent appearance on Newsnight!
Keir Starmer’s allies purging Labour left, says John McDonnell
Supporters of Sir Keir Starmer are “drunk with power” and conducting a purge of the Labour left, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66105250
Agreed!
McDonnell’s reactions against Starmer’s betrayals, are very ‘recent’ and very sudden.
An easy comparison is the immediate solidarity Ken Loach showed with Starmer’s victims – risking his Labour membership – and McDonnell’s decision to speak up, only now the threats are coming nearer to home for him.
It’s easy to understand why so many people are quoting Pastor Martin Niemöller in respect of our current times and the need to once again, stand up and be counted.