Labour rules against dozens of motions about Palestine being debated at party conference

"The conference arrangement committee, made up of Labour elected reps and officials, has ruled about 30 motions about Palestine from local parties out of order. Some of those who submitted the motions may appeal against the decisions, which were mostly made on this grounds that the issue was already dealt with by the National Policy Framework (NPF) report in August. They have until Sunday to object, with appeals heard on Monday."

"The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which has support from some Labour MPs, accused party officials of attempting to stifle debate on Palestine at the party conference. The group argued that many of the proposed motions focused on events that took place after the NPF report was published, including the announcement of the Israeli government's plans to militarily occupy Gaza City on 8 August and the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza City on 10 August."

The Labour conference arrangement committee has ruled roughly 30 local-party motions on Palestine out of order, mostly on the basis that the issue was covered by the National Policy Framework (NPF) in August. Motion submitters have until Sunday to object and can appeal, with hearings scheduled for Monday. The absence of Palestine motions coincides with the prime minister preparing to recognise a Palestinian state, while many Labour members and MPs want further measures such as ending arms trade and military cooperation with Israel. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign and some MPs say the rulings ignore developments after the NPF and proposed new sanctions and trade bans, amid a sharp rise in submitted motions compared with the previous year.

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