SENEDD members and councillors from across Wales and across the political spectrum – Plaid Cymru, the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have demanded an end to Welsh local government pension funds investing in Israel’s “genocide and apartheid”.
In a cross-party letter to the Wales Pensions Partnership (WPP), which manages Welsh local government pension funds worth an estimated £26 billion, the politicians argue that ensuring investments “are not contributing to grave violations of international law must be an urgent priority”. The full text of the letter and the signatories are below.
The letter was coordinated by PSC (the Palestine Solidarity Campaign) Cymru. It comes as the WPP is developing an ‘Exclusion Framework’, which it claims will prevent investments deemed to conflict with its climate, human rights and international law commitments.
But the politicians argue that the Exclusion Framework “risks falling short of the clear democratic mandate from councils across Wales”, highlighting that many councils in Wales have passed motions demanding “divestment from companies complicit in war crimes, apartheid, and other breaches of international law.” So far 11 councils in Wales – half of all councils in Wales – have passed motions in support of divestment, a significantly higher proportion than anywhere else in Britain.
Research from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has found that Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in Wales funds invest more than £1.1 billion in companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. For example, Rhondda Cynon Taf Pension Fund invests more than £12 million in BAE Systems, an arms manufacturer that makes parts for the fighter jets Israel has used to decimate Gaza and indiscriminately kill men, women and children.
The letter makes a series of demands on WPP, including a call to ensure its Exclusion Framework explicitly excludes all companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of international law and that it proposes a ‘clear and time-bound plan’ to divest from all such companies.
Bethan Sayed, Co-Chair of PSC Cymru, said: “Today’s letter sends an unmistakable message: Welsh politicians from across the political spectrum will not allow public money to fund genocide and apartheid.
“The Wales Pension Partnership manages £26 billion on behalf of Welsh workers and communities — not a single penny of it should be profiting from the massacre of Palestinian men, women and children.
“Six out of seven people in Wales support divestment. Eleven councils have passed motions. The democratic mandate could not be clearer. The WPP must act — and it must act now.”
