“Much as the present Conservative government is hoping to shield Israel’s system of apartheid from accountability, so too Thatcher’s administration did everything it could to protect its South African counterpart.”
By Peter Leary, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Nobody with any knowledge of the international campaign that helped to end apartheid in South Africa, would ever mistake Margaret Thatcher and her 1980s government as a friend of that movement. But it was precisely this ludicrous claim, made by Tory minister, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, that led to a bizarre row in the House of Lords last month when peers debated the toxic anti-boycott bill.
Part of a wider crackdown on democratic rights – including cutting back the right to strike and the right to protest – the anti-boycott bill would prevent public authorities, such as local councils and universities, from making ethical choices about spending or investment. It would prohibit public bodies from cutting financial ties with companies responsible for illegal or immoral practices committed in a foreign country.
Against the backdrop of unprecedented protests and overwhelming public support for an immediate end to Israel’s brutal assault on the people of the Gaza Strip, the government’s main objective is to curtail campaigning in support of Palestinian rights. The bill even singles out Israel by name, as well as its illegal occupation, affording it permanent protection from public-sector boycotts and divestment campaigns, beyond that extended to any other state. At the same time, it will also restrict those who use these tactics to challenge environmental destruction and violations of human rights around the world. As a legal opinion published by Richard Hermer KC for the Labour Party makes clear, had this law been in place during the 1980s, it would have forced local authorities and universities to do business with the racist South African apartheid regime.
It was while attempting to justify this attack on democratic principles, that Neville-Rolfe provoked bewilderment in the House of Lords. The difference, she suggested, between boycott and divestment in support of Palestinian rights and those who upheld the rights of black South Africans, was that the latter campaigns were conducted ‘in concert with the UK Government’. In fact, this extraordinary assertion could not be further from the truth.
Much as the present Conservative government is hoping to shield Israel’s system of apartheid from accountability, so too Thatcher’s administration did everything it could to protect its South African counterpart. As several Labour peers and others pointed out, she consistently opposed boycotts in every international forum and even introduced similar anti-boycott legislation in a failed attempt to undermine the role of local government and other bodies. Thankfully, those efforts were defeated. When Nelson Mandela visited Britain in 1998, he described the ‘knowledge that local authorities…were banning apartheid products…and that the universities…had cut their links’ as ‘a great inspiration to us in our struggle.’
The anti-boycott bill and other anti-democratic attempts to dent solidarity with the Palestinian people must also be defeated. Recently, the Welsh Senedd joined the Scottish government, TUC, and a huge coalition of more than 70 civil society organisations – including trade unions, charities, climate campaigns, human rights and faith groups – who are calling for the bill to be scrapped. Meanwhile, right across Britain, millions are insisting on a ceasefire. The government should be listening to the public, not cracking down on those trying to achieve change through peaceful and democratic means.
History shows that the anti-boycott bill will never stop our campaigns from growing. Alongside our ongoing marches, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is currently targeting businesses like Barclays, which propped up apartheid in South Africa and now invests over £1billion in companies involved in arming Israel. Today, a free South Africa is at the forefront of efforts to stop Israel’s genocidal violence through its legal action at the International Court of Justice. Labour peers must reject this dangerous Tory bill and we must all continue to build the movement for Palestinian rights.
Take action in your local area and join the next national march for Palestine in London on Saturday 30 March: Emergency Response: Stop the Attacks on Gaza – Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
- Peter Leary is currently a Deputy Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
- You can follow Peter on Twitter/X here; and follow PSC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- You can find out more about the Saturday 30th Day of Action here: Emergency Response: Stop the Attacks on Gaza.
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