A COALITION of more than 70 human rights and campaign groups has presented a petition to Downing Street demanding the government drop its bid to outlaw investment boycotts.

The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, or anti-boycott Bill, is about to enter its committee stage in the Commons.

It aims to prevent publicly financed organisations such as councils, universities and public-sector pension funds from deciding how to spend, invest and trade ethically, in line with international law and human rights.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), one of the 70 organisations which collected almost 18,000 signatures, believes its Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) against Israel is a target of the legislation.

The Bill faces opposition across the Commons and is also opposed by the Scottish government with pressure growing on the Welsh government to follow suit.

The coalition, which includes trade unions, charities, faith, climate justice and human rights groups, has stated that the Bill will stifle a wide range of campaigns for justice, erode local democracy and threaten freedom of expression.

PSC UK director Ben Jamal said: “The huge response to this petition reflects widespread alarm across whole swathes of progressive civil society that the anti-boycott Bill represents a major attack on freedom of expression. 

“Opposition to this Bill is growing because it threatens, not just the ability of public bodies to take part in boycott and divestment campaigns in support of Palestinian rights, but all those who seek change through peaceful and democratic means.”

Grace Da Costa of Quakers in Britain, which opposes the legislation, said: “Quakers have a long history of non-violent action against global injustices.

“Boycotts and divestments are key tools in the campaign for equality, peace and sustainability. 

“The government must withdraw this Bill to protect human rights in the UK and around the world.”

Signatories include Liberty, Unison, Unite the union, University and College Union Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace UK, War on Want, Muslim Association of Britain, Methodist Church in Britain and Campaign Against Arms Trade.

The Anti-Apartheid Movement’s international boycott of South Africa, which contributed to the downfall of the country’s racist regime in the early 1990s, would have been illegal in Britain if the legislation had been in place at the time.