More than 150 councillors from across London’s boroughs and London Assembly members have signed a letter demanding divestment of council pension funds from corporations which fund or support Israeli abuses against Palestinians.
Divest from genocide: the cross-party delegation that submitted the letter calling for divestment
Yet only one of Croydon’s 70 councillors has signed the letter.
In Sutton, two councillors have signed the letter (though one of those doesn’t even live in this country).
Elsewhere in south London, 12 councillors from Lewisham, 11 Wandsworth councillors, five from Southwark, four from Lambeth and two from Bromley have signed the letter. There were even more Bexley councillors among the signatories than those from Croydon.
The letter calls on London councils’ pooled pension fund, the London Collective Investment Vehicle, or CIV, to create investment options excluding “all companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of international law” and to set a timeline for divesting all offerings from such firms.
The CIV currently invests £7billion of its £34billion portfolio in companies complicit in Israel’s crimes, including nearly £1billion in arms manufacturers.
The signatories include Labour London Assembly member Elly Baker, Islington council deputy leader Santiago Bell-Bradford and Wandsworth council cabinet member Aydin Dikerdem. Of the 154 signatories, 64 are from Labour and 39 are Green Party councillors and AMs, including the party leader, Zack Polanski, and the party’s two other AMs, Zoe Garbett and Caroline Russell.
Signatory: Labour’s Elly Baker AM
Garbett said: “Londoners do not want their pensions invested in companies linked to war crimes, apartheid and genocide. They want their money invested responsibly, with strong returns that are not built on the destruction of lives in Palestine, or others around the world.
“The London CIV should listen to the people it ultimately serves and move toward divestment from companies complicit in Israel’s crimes and human rights abuses globally.”
The letter was hand-delivered to CIV’s offices by a delegation that included Lambeth Green councillor Martin Abrams and Richmond councillor Alan Juriansz, one of seven Liberal Democrats to support the letter.
The issue impacts 700,000 current and former local government staff with London council pensions. Polling shows 49% of Londoners support council pension divestment; 16% are opposed.
Since July 2024, eight London councils, including Wandsworth, Islington and Southwark, have passed a motion or issued a statement in support of divesting their pension funds from companies involved in Israel’s crimes.
The Sutton councillors signing the letter were the borough’s two remaining Labour councillors, Dave Tchil and Señor Sheldon Vestey (as seen in Private Eye).
The only Croydon councillor to sign the letter was Ria Patel, the Green Party councillor for Fairfield ward.
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Good move. Hope it comes about. Awful to think our councils’ pension funds are paying for Israel’s genocide.