The Government has published guidance to stop procurement boycotts by public authorities. Outside of formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions put in place by the Government, such boycotts by public authorities are clearly inappropriate. Town hall boycotts undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarising debate, weakening integration and fuelling xenophobia and, in some cases, anti-Semitism. I do not believe it is for local government to pursue its own municipal foreign policy – as rightly, that matter is reserved to the UK Government.
In addition, the World Trade Organisation Government Procurement Agreement requires countries that have signed up to the Agreement to treat suppliers equally, so any discrimination against suppliers of specific nationalities involving procurement would be in breach of the Agreement.
This new guidance complements existing guidance about trading or investing overseas, including with Israel, and I believe it will help prevent damaging and counter-productive local foreign policies undermining our national security.
By Patrick McLoughlin on October 20, 2016