Councils and NHS trusts to be blocked from boycotting Israeli products

Councils, NHS trusts, and other publicly funded bodies will be prevented from boycotting Israeli goods under new government procurement guidelines. The regulations will prevent any public authority from imposing a boycott on a country signed up to the World Trade Organisation government procurement agreement. Penalties for contravening the guidance could be severe. A separate move by the government wants to stop publicly funded organisations boycotting companies they consider unethical by divesting from pension investments in sectors such as fossil fuels or arms.

Councils, NHS trusts and other publicly funded bodies will be prevented from boycotting Israeli goods under new government procurement guidelines.

Matthew Hancock, the Cabinet Office minister, is set to announce the regulations during a visit to Israel, citing concerns that such boycotts can fuel antisemitism.

The guidance will make clear that ministers consider procurement boycotts by public authorities to be “inappropriate, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the government”.

Hancock said the plans, which were first announced in October, were intended to end “divisive town hall boycotts”.

The regulations will prevent any public authority from imposing a boycott on a country signed up to the World Trade Organisation government procurement agreement. Penalties for contravening the guidance could be severe, the government said.

Speaking before his trip to Israel, Hancock said: “We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts. The new guidance on procurement, combined with changes we are making to how pension pots can be invested, will help prevent damaging and counterproductive local foreign policies undermining our national security.”

His remark about pension pots refers to a separate move by the government to stop publicly funded organisations boycotting companies they consider unethical by divesting from pension investments in sectors such as fossil fuels or arms.

Hancock’s move was attacked by Labour for imposing restrictions on local democracy and freedom of expression. A spokesman for the party leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Independent: “This government’s ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa. Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice they’re imposing Conservative party policies on elected local councils across the board.”

There have been several cases of councils boycotting Israeli products linked to settlements on Palestinian territory, including Leicester city council in 2014. In the same year, the Scottish government published a procurement notice to Scottish councils that “strongly discourages trade and investment from illegal settlements”.