Sheffield Labour to end power-sharing with Greens over 'Zionism is racism' motion

In the Steel City, the council has been governed in coalition between the two parties, with Labour on 26 councillors and the Greens with 19, since the May elections.

However, after the motion voted through at the Green Party conference, which Prime Minister Andy Burnham has described as anti-semitic, the Labour group is now proposing to run the council through a minority administration.

Sheffield Council leader Labour’s Coun Fran Belbin wrote to her Green counterpart Coun Angela Argenzio, explaining that if she did not reject the motion the coalition would be broken up.

However, despite meetings between the parties, the Greens have refused to budge.

In a statement today, Coun Belbin confirmed she would put forward a motion at full council on Wednesday for the city hall to be run by a minority Labour administration, with the Greens booted out.

“Over the last four weeks we have tried to resolve our differences with the Greens,” she said.

“Other Green groups and MPs have spoken out in order to make all of our communities feel safe and secure, but this has not proved possible with the Sheffield Green group.

“Leadership involves difficult decisions, and this has been the hardest since I became leader of the council, but I cannot remain neutral when some of our citizens are feeling so threatened and I do not want to lead an administration that is characterised by division and hatred.

“We will never stop calling for justice for Palestinians and we will work to bring people together to overcome the divisions caused by the Green conference motion.

“Council services will be unaffected by this change and we will continue to focus on the issues that matter to our citizens, including tackling poverty, improving our neighbourhoods and creating opportunities for young people.

“Through our committee system, all councillors will contribute to decision making and we hope they will continue to take decisions in the best interests of all Sheffielders.”

The Sheffield Green Party has been contacted for comment. In a previous statement, councillors declined to disavow the motion and hit out at Mr Burnham for getting involved in local politics.

They said: “Decisions about how our council is run should be made here in Sheffield, not dictated from Westminster.

“Does Mr Burnham not trust his local councillors to make good decisions about who should run their local areas?.

“This administration failing would be disastrous for the city, it's embarrassing that Labour wants to tear it up for political point scoring."

"The accusation that the Sheffield Green Party is antisemitic is unfounded. We do not, and will not, conflate either Zionism and Judaism, nor anti-Zionism with antisemitism.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who did not vote on the motion, has attempted to distance himself from it, saying he would only have supported it if it was amended.

The motion effectively makes the belief in a Jewish homeland - Zionism - regarded as any other form of racism.

He told Sky News: “Ultimately, I agree with the substance of the motion. Where I disagree is the idea that the Green Party should be deciding what the future of the region looks like.”

Former party co-leader Adrian Ramsay on Sunday said he was “deeply uncomfortable” with the motion and said the question now was how Mr Polanski and the party responded.

He told the BBC: “I think there’s a real crossroads point for the party at the moment.

“One option is to sort of dig in more down this approach, not only in relation to this motion, but I think that there’s a risk it brings with it – a quite divisive, a quite internally focused approach to politics.”