Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch
Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, has declared that the “Government will ban public bodies from pursuing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activities including at universities and local authorities”.
Her comments came on Wednesday evening at an Israeli Embassy reception celebrating Israel’s 75th anniversary of independence. Badenoch thanked the Israeli Ambassador, H.E. Tzipi Hotovely, for allowing her to mark “this significant moment in [Israel’s] national and [the UK’s] shared history”.
She noted that Israel and the UK “have achieved a lot together… but this is just the start”, highlighting the “modern, innovative” trade agreement she is currently negotiating, making provisions for digital trade, innovation and trade in services, all omitted in previous deals.
Badenoch called Israel’s story “one of strength, resilience and success,” which “today…is shaping the world’s future”, and complimented Israel on its “melting pot of diversity and community”, as a “thriving start up nation that enriches and improves lives across the world”.
Ambassador Hotovely also took to the stage thanking Badenoch for everything she does “strengthening the ties between our two countries”. The Ambassador referenced Arthur Balfour paving the way to a creation of a national home, turning the “dream into reality”, and highlighted the UK-Israel present partnership stating “together we save lives, we cooperate on health, we cooperate on trade”.
Last week, Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, vowed it is his “priority” to ban BDS.
