Unions hit back at calls for MPs and unions to cut ties with Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Nine trade unions have called on the government, Labour and other political parties to reject a proposal to “blacklist” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

The unions, which include several affiliated with the Labour Party, said that “the promotion of human rights and democratic participation are core principles of our trade unions, and we are proud of the work that PSC does to advance these values”.

Ministers are said to be considering plans to ban MPs and councillors from engaging with groups such as the PSC, which has led regular pro-Palestine marches since the latest conflict began.

Lord Walney, the former Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, has said groups like PSC, Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion should not be able to meet politicians.

Walney, who is conducting a government review on political violence, also told The Times last night Labour-affiliated unions should “surely cut ties with the PSC” unless it does more to prevent its events fuelling “hate and abuse”.

However, the CWU, FBU, ASLEF, TSSA, UCU, PCS, NEU, BFAWU and RMT, along with Friends of the Earth, Liberty and Amnesty International, have said a blacklist for such organisations is “profoundly anti-democratic”.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef and chair of the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO), said: “In this moment, the government should be calling for an immediate ceasefire, so that urgent aid can be brought into Gaza to prevent people dying, including thousands of children.

“Instead it devotes energy to demonising the solidarity movement and PSC, an organisation whose work is crucial in keeping human rights issues, including those relevant to the Palestinian people, at the forefront of democratic decision-making.”

In the joint statement, the unions said: “Any suggestion that the government or political parties should produce a blacklist and refuse to meet or engage with civil society organisations or sections of the electorate is profoundly anti-democratic.

“The message it would send is that any campaigning initiated by anyone outside government or parliament in support of Palestinian rights is somehow illegitimate.”

Labour affiliate UNISON has also issued a statement saying it is “extremely concerned” by the suggestion of cutting ties with the PSC. “UNISON completely opposes these proposals and limits on the right to peaceful protest, and urges the government and opposition parties to reject them.”

PSC chairman and NEU national executive member Louse Regan said: “The work of PSC is supported by millions of trade union members who stand with us right now in our call for a ceasefire to end what the world’s highest court has accepted is a plausible case of genocide.

“They will not allow the government to stifle that voice and will resist attempts to marginalise the work of PSC and stifle the right to protest.”

But Walney told The Times: “Trade union support for the far left militancy of the PSC — which is facilitating the intimidation of parliamentarians — is surely incompatible with the mission of Labour-affiliated unions to secure change for working people through the election of Labour MPs and councillors.”

PSC has said his “comments, framed as a defence of democracy, are in reality an attack on it”.