Council pension schemes under a legal obligation to take steps to divest from companies enabling Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
Posted: 3rd September 2025
Today, we’ve sent a legal notice to every council in England & Wales administering a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund, outlining that they are under a legal obligation to take steps to divest from companies enabling Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
Watch our video below to find out more, and take action by writing to your local councillors to demand they push for the council to end all financial ties to Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.
Write to your councillors
The notice, authored by leading legal experts, outlines that councils are required to take steps to end their financial ties to companies complicit in Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians.
We’ve also written to Angela Rayner, who has responsibility for the LGPS, informing her that she too is under a legal obligation to issue guidance to prevent all LGPS funds from investing in companies enabling Israel’s crimes.
Palestinians are facing the most horrific violence right now, but they continue to be clear about what they want from the solidarity movement: escalate BDS campaigns NOW to force our institutions to stop aiding Israel’s genocide.
Our research has found that LGPS funds collectively invest over £12billion in companies enabling or profiting from Israel’s atrocities. It could not be more urgent that this money is divested.
Take action today by writing to your councillors to demand they push for divestment.
Local divestment campaigns, powered by PSC branches, are winning significant victories across Britain. Thanks to the hard work of thousands of PSC members, 17 councils have now supported divestment from companies complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law.
But many councils are failing to listen to campaigners and pension fund members – and are ignoring their legal obligation to end financial ties to Israel’s crimes.
We must continue to ramp up our divestment campaigning until the deferred wages of public sector workers are no longer funnelled, against their wishes, into companies enabling Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.
In solidarity,
Lewis
PSC Campaigns Officer
P.S. Make sure to join the next national demonstration for Palestine this Saturday 6 September. Assemble 12noon at Russell Square.
