NINE trade unions have said plans to “blacklist” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) are “profoundly anti-democratic”.
Ministers are said to be considering plans to ban MPs and councillors from engaging with groups like PSC, which has led regular pro-Palestine marches.
Lord Walney, a former Labour MP who is conducting a government review on political violence, said groups like PSC, Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion should not be able to meet MPs.
But unions including RMT, Aslef, the CWU, TSSA, PCS, UCU and NEU have all called on the Government to rethink the plans, according to LabourList.
In the joint statement, the unions said: “Any suggestion that the government or political parties should produce a blacklist and refuse to meet or engage with civil society organisations or sections of the electorate is profoundly anti-democratic.
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“The message it would send is that any campaigning initiated by anyone outside government or parliament in support of Palestinian rights is somehow illegitimate.”
Lord Walney also told The Times this week Labour-affiliated unions should “surely cut ties with PSC” unless it does more to prevent its events fuelling “hate and abuse”.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef and chair of the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO), said: “In this moment, the government should be calling for an immediate ceasefire, so that urgent aid can be brought into Gaza to prevent people dying, including thousands of children.
“Instead it devotes energy to demonising the solidarity movement and PSC, an organisation whose work is crucial in keeping human rights issues, including those relevant to the Palestinian people, at the forefront of democratic decision-making.”
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Friends of the Earth, Liberty and Amnesty International have also supported the calls from the unions, which additionally included the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union and the Fire Brigades Union.
PSC chairman and NEU national executive member Louise Regan said: “The work of PSC is supported by millions of trade union members who stand with us right now in our call for a ceasefire to end what the world’s highest court has accepted is a plausible case of genocide.
“They will not allow the Government to stifle that voice and will resist attempts to marginalise the work of PSC and stifle the right to protest.”
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