Ealing Council debates Gaza pension fund investments following public petition
Ealing Council faced calls to scrutinise its pension fund investments on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, after a petition signed by nearly 5,000 residents urged the council to examine holdings managed by the London Collective Investment Vehicle (London CIV). The petition specifically requested the identification of any investments allegedly complicit in human rights violations in Palestine.
Presenting the petition, Mr. Simon AC Martin highlighted the catastrophic loss of lives and injury to civilians in Gaza
and cited international court orders. He pointed to the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) orders and determinations concerning Israel's occupation, apartheid policies, and actions leading to famine and genocide. The ICJ in May 2024 ordered Israel under the Genocide Convention to cease from attacking Rafa, to permit independent war crimes investigators to enter, and to allow unhindered food and humanitarian relief to enter,
Mr. Martin stated.
He further argued that other councils had already taken similar action, citing Kingston Council's unanimous motion in July 2025. The resolutions laid out before you, enacted by other councils, only down the road from us, just this last year, and cleared by your own legal department, are legitimately within your powers to enact,
he told councillors.
The petition urged the council to review its pension fund investments held via the London CIV to identify holdings allegedly complicit in breaches of international law or human rights violations in Palestine. It referenced evidence including research from The Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) holdings in Ealing, the UN report Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide,
the American Friends Service Committee's list of military suppliers to Israel, the Campaign Against Arms Trade's register of Israeli arms suppliers, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights database of companies complicit in the exploitation of the occupied Palestinian territories.
However, Councillor Dominic Moffitt spoke against the petition's call for a task and finish group. While acknowledging the council abhors violence, he stated that many claims about local government pension investments were inaccurate. He explained that the London CIV's pooled approach makes individual divestment difficult. As pension trustees, we have a fiduciary duty to our pensioners and scheme members and our primary legal obligations to manage the fund in their best financial interests and to ensure the long-term sustainability of pension benefits,
Councillor Moffitt emphasised.
Councillor Connie Hersch, for the Liberal Democrats, supported the intentions of the motion, stating that upholding international law was part of their values. Councillor Andrew Walkley, speaking for the Green Group, also supported the petition, calling it a correct call for action.
He suggested that Ealing, as a contributor to London's Sib, should demand Pillar 3 of the available investment choices to ensure full compliance with those sanctions.
He also referenced a precedent set by London CIV in response to the invasion of Ukraine, where they instructed no investment in such entities and seek approval to sell any that were found.
Councillor Louise Brett argued against the motion, stating that the Council's primary legal and moral obligation was to protect the financial stability of the Ealing Pension Fund for its members.
She warned that If returns fail or fall, it will be the taxpayers of Ealing who will be forced to foot the bill to bridge the deficit.
Councillor Stephen Donnelly added that pensions should be treated principally as instruments of pursuing wider political objectives has been opposed by the courts.
Ultimately, the petition was noted, with no vote taken.
