Full Council backed talks on a Haifa twinning 29 to 1 on 20 October, with Labour abstaining. How every motion went, from antisemitism to the London Plan.
Barnet Council will invite the Mayor of Haifa to talks about twinning the borough with the Israeli city. Full Council backed a Conservative motion by 29 votes to 1 on Tuesday 20 October.
The votes were read out by the council’s head of governance and can be heard on the meeting webcast. The council has not yet published the minutes.
The Labour group, which runs the council, says its councillors abstained. Barnet has 31 Labour councillors, 31 Conservatives and one Green, according to the council’s list of members, so no party has a majority.
What the Haifa motion asks for
The motion from Cllr Raffy Lachter (Conservative, Mill Hill) resolves to:
- invite the Mayor of Haifa and Haifa Municipality to discuss a twinning relationship
- explore links in healthcare, between universities, and in interfaith work
- ask officers to examine the benefits, costs, governance and practical requirements, and report back to the next ordinary meeting of the council
The next ordinary Full Council meeting is on 26 January 2027, according to the council’s meetings calendar.
The motion points out that Barnet has more Jewish residents than anywhere else in the UK, 56,616 people or 14.5% at the last census. It says Haifa’s twinning with Hackney, which dates from 1968, was due to end on 14 October following a decision by Hackney’s new Green administration.
In a statement emailed to Barnet Live, the Labour group said it abstained because of the cost and the open-ended commitment. It also said Barnet is already twinned with an Israeli city, Ramat Gan.
How the other motions went
Councillors voted on eight motions in all. Only the gambling motion and the London Plan motion were debated; the rest went straight to a vote.
| Motion | Moved by | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Declaring a gambling harms emergency | Cllr Alison Moore (Labour) | Carried, 30 in favour |
| Exploring a twinning with Haifa | Cllr Raffy Lachter (Conservative) | Carried, 29 to 1 |
| VAT relief for repairs to community buildings | Cllr Emma Whysall (Labour) | Carried, all in favour |
| The London Plan is the wrong plan for Barnet | Cllr Josh Mastin-Lee (Conservative) | Carried as amended by Labour, one abstention |
| Antisemitism is racism | Cllr Barry Rawlings (Labour leader) | Carried, 58 in favour, one abstention |
| Puberty blocker trial and children in care | Cllr James Esses (Conservative) | Lost, 29 to 30 |
| Noah’s Ark Hospice at 20 | Cllr Emma Whysall (Labour) | Carried, all in favour |
| Over-proliferation of fast food outlets | Cllr Alison Moore (Labour) | Carried, 39 to 8, nine abstentions |
We have written a separate report on the gambling harms emergency and what it commits the council to.
Antisemitism motion: 58 in favour
The motion from council leader Barry Rawlings condemns the “Zionism is racism” motion the Green Party passed on 4 October. It asks the leader to write to the Green Party leader on the council’s behalf.
Before the vote, Cllr Charli Thompson, the council’s only Green member, raised a point of order. She said the motion’s claim that her party had committed to campaigning against the IHRA definition of antisemitism was untrue. The council’s officer advising the meeting said they and the Mayor did not consider the motion improper, and it went to the vote.
London Plan motion passed on the Mayor’s casting vote
Cllr Mastin-Lee (Conservative, Finchley Church End) moved a motion opposing Sadiq Khan’s draft London Plan. It objects to:
- a Barnet housing target of over 32,000 homes in ten years, the highest in London
- an instruction to release up to a fifth of Barnet’s green belt for 7,000 homes
- a push for one-bedroom flats without parking over family homes
- 16 traveller sites in the borough
Labour’s deputy leader, Cllr Ross Houston, amended it. His version keeps the opposition to the targets and the green belt release. It adds that Barnet also has more urban areas, and points to the cross-party response that council officers have already sent. At the meeting he dropped a final line about promoting the consultation, because it had closed on 15 October.
The amendment was tied at 29 votes each. The Mayor, Cllr Zahra Beg, used her casting vote in favour. The amended motion was then carried, with one abstention.
Puberty blocker motion lost by one vote
Cllr James Esses (Conservative, High Barnet) asked the council to adopt a policy of not ordinarily referring children in its care to the government-backed PATHWAYS puberty blocker trial. Any such request would have gone to the leaders of both main groups and the two children’s spokespeople before a decision. It fell by 29 votes to 30.
Senior pay packages approved
In the reports that followed, councillors approved salary packages for three senior posts by 58 votes to 1. They also delegated the choice of an interim finance chief (the Section 151 officer) to the chief executive, in consultation with the opposition leader and the chair of the Employment Sub-Committee.
Those posts follow the departure of the finance director, Anisa Darr, in December. Our earlier report has the grades and pay ranges.
What it means for you
- Haifa twinning is not yet agreed. Council has voted to open talks and ask for a report. Watch for officers’ report on costs at Full Council on 26 January 2027.
- The London Plan consultation has closed. Cllr Houston told the meeting it closed on 15 October. The council’s position is now on record for the Mayor’s next draft.
- Full Council meetings are public. You can watch the webcast of any meeting from the council’s meetings pages, or attend at Hendon Town Hall.
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