Ealing Green Party councillor Andrew Walkley argues that Ealing Council should review whether its pension investments are connected to Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian territory.
in his opinion piece, Councillor Walkley sets out why he believes the issue should concern local residents and responds to arguments made against the petition at a recent council meeting.
“In the recent full council meeting for Ealing, a petition was presented to request a review of pension investments with regard to Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and it’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands. I have heard questions around why this was a local issue, but the simple fact is that 5000 Ealing residents thought it was, They signed – physically signed with their addresses – to bring the petition to council.
“In supporting the petition I also emphasised that there is nothing unusual in this. People’s politics and morality does not end at Ealing’s borders. And who really wants to profit through a pension from businesses that may be supporting genocide? What’s more there is precedent in the action taken by the London CIV (which holds Ealing’s pension funds) following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. It’s simply a question of fairness in responding to breaches of international law. As Margaret Thatcher said ‘what else do we have?;
“In opposing the petition, Councillor Donnelly for Labour made three main arguments. Firstly, he suggested that the amount of investments associated with Israeli settlements and other war crimes had been exaggerated. This is irrelevant. The motion was for a review – it did not state how significant the connection was. When the London CIV proposed divesting from Russian and Belarusian entities, it estimated the exposure was 0.02%. The size of the investments is ultimately unimportant. The principle of ensuring an ethical position and fairness in our actions is what counts. If we can avoid the exposure we should.
“The second argument was that divesting was simply too complicated. International finance is such an interconnected web, it’s impossible to pull apart the right threads. Yet Councillor Donnelly contradicted this argument in dismissing my point about Russia’s invasion. He suggested that the reason the Russian divestment happened at that time was that the law had required it. There’s no law in the case of Israel’s illegal occupation. In fact, no reference is made to legal requirements in the statement by London CIV. But even if there was, Labour is simply saying, they don’t have to review investments in relation to Israeli war crimes at the moment, so they won’t. It is not impossible at all – it is just a matter of will. This is the reality of Labour’s current position. Acknowledging the genocide, saying they want fuller sanctions, but actually still not taking the requisite action.
“The third argument – also made by the Conservatives – is that investments are made on behalf of local government workers and that the security of the pension fund is paramount. Of course, we agree that ensuring local government workers receive the pensions they have been promised is essential. However, that in no way prevents choices to invest in certain companies and not.invest in others.
“As we have seen, London CIV already made choices with regards to Russia. But it also makes other ethical/political choices: it avoids companies contributing to climate change and invests in some that are supporting a green transition. In fact it ranks the investment profiles in pillars of varying ethical strictness, with pillar 3 offering the highest level. This would largely take account of sanctions and we hope that Ealing will demand this choice. Indeed, this may have been the focus of the petition, if this information had been disclosed earlier rather than only coming to light through a freedom of information request.
“However there is also a wider point about pension funds and savings. They are underused in providing real investment and devote too much money to the unproductive gambling on the rise and fall of shares. We believe pension funds, including Ealing”s, could do more to fund true wealth creation and security for our future. For example it may fund construction of more social housing for pensioners. That would not only support people in old age by reducing their cost of living, it could also provide consistent long-term returns to the fund itself. How is that not a local issue?”
Israel has rejected allegations of genocide and has said its military actions in Gaza are carried out in self-defence following attacks by Hamas.
