Green Party to submit 'urgent question' at Sheffield's full council meeting over "outright lies" from Labour
“There is no place for outright lies in politics”
The Green Party have accused a Sheffield councillor of lying in a statement he made about the party’s controversial ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion.
Green councillor Douglas Johnson is set to ask a question at Wednesday’s (November 4) full council meeting after Shiregreen and Brightside councillor Mark Rusling issued a statement claiming that the Green Party had “voted for the elimination of Israel by violent means.”
Coun Johnson has said the claim is a lie, and is set to say at the town hall meeting: “I therefore ask the leader of the council if she will distance herself from that remark and if she will explain the extent that that claim influenced her decision to break down the council’s administration.”
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He told The Star ahead of the meeting: “There is no place for outright lies in politics.
“This is a prime example of lies infecting decision-making and shows how far some members of the Labour Party have fallen.”
In Coun Rusling’s statement - which comes as the Labour and Green leadership agreement at Sheffield City Council is set to come to an end - he said that the Green’s Zionism is Racism vote “showed how far the party has changed from the one we joined with just a few months ago.”
“This is clearly wrong, and we know that many people in the Sheffield Green Party agree with us,” he added.
“Their new position stops them from seeing the people who really are racist. It is a more extreme position than the Palestinian Authority’s own approach, which calls for a two-state solution.”
While the motion - which was voted at the national Green Party conference in Brighton in early October - does call for the creation of a single Palestinian state, the local party branch have said that they are not calling on military action.
It is understood the party has lodged a complaint with the council’s monitoring officer about Coun Rusling’s statement.
Councillor Alexi Dimond, who represents the Gleadless Valley ward for the Greens, added: “You may have seen on Facebook and in the press that Labour Councillor Mark Rusling has claimed that the Green Party “voted for the elimination of Israel by violent means.”
“We want to be clear, this is completely untrue. Mark is plainly lying here.
“There have been no calls for violence, military action or the violent removal of any state from the Green Party.
“This is a desperate attempt by Labour to distract from the chaos they have created on Sheffield City Council, which will harm ordinary Sheffield residents and confidence in Sheffield, and undermine the democratic process.”