Sheffield Greens to challenge Labour claim at full council meeting

A dispute over a national Green Party motion is coming before Sheffield City Council as Labour and the Greens prepare to end their leadership agreement.

Green councillor Douglas Johnson is due to put an ‘urgent question’ to the council leader at the full council meeting on Wednesday 4 November, The Star reports. He wants her to reject a statement by Labour councillor Mark Rusling and explain whether it influenced her decision to end the joint administration.

Rusling, who represents Shiregreen and Brightside, accused the Greens of having “voted for the elimination of Israel by violent means.” Johnson says that claim is a lie.

The dispute concerns the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion considered at the national Green Party conference in Brighton in early October. It calls for a single Palestinian state. Sheffield’s Green Party says it is not advocating military action.

Challenge to the council leader

In his planned question, Johnson will ask: “I therefore ask the leader of the council if she will distance herself from that remark and if she will explain the extent that that claim influenced her decision to break down the council’s administration.”

Rusling’s statement argued that the conference vote demonstrated a change in the Greens since the parties agreed to work together. He described their position as more extreme than the Palestinian Authority’s support for a two-state solution.

Alexi Dimond, Green councillor for Gleadless Valley, also rejected Rusling’s allegation, saying: “There have been no calls for violence, military action or the violent removal of any state from the Green Party.”

The Star understands that the Greens have submitted a complaint about Rusling’s statement to the council’s monitoring officer.

Source: The Star