A PETITION calling for the council to “disclose and divest from arms companies” has been signed by more than 200 people.
The Town Hall has committed to divesting £2.6million of the pension fund from companies accused of illegal settlement activity in the West Bank and revising its procurement policy, including revisiting its contract with Barclays when it ends next year.
Esme Waterfield, a campaigner with Islington Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), said although the commitments were a “really good result”, campaigners wanted to make sure the council “follow through” on plans to strengthen an ethical criteria in its procurement processes.
“We want to make sure the council is not contracting with companies that are supporting violations of international law,” Ms Waterfield said.
“They’ve made the first step, and they just need to continue.”
The petition asks that “companies that enable, facilitate and profit from human rights violations or violations of international law to be excluded from tendering for contacts with the council.”
The campaigners also want Islington Council to be transparent about where its pension fund is invested.
They have released a list of, mainly arms companies which are implicated in Israel’s current bombing of Gaza, and are asking for the council to divest from any that it has financial links to.
Ms Waterfield said: “Islington pension fund is getting on for £2 billion. Obviously, that is a huge amount of money. Collectively, local government pension schemes have about 360 billion. These are significant holdings that they have.”
She added: “If people start divesting, it changes the whole economics of it, it puts pressure on companies but also it’s a political statement.”
A spokesperson for Islington Council said: “Islington Council takes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters very seriously and has discussed these with Barclays, including in a meeting with Barclays Bank Chief Executive.
“The council will review its banking services contract in 2025. We will incorporate robust criteria around ESG when the council’s banking services contract is reviewed.”
