Bromley Council has come under fire over claims it has investments in arms companies linked to Israel.

The Conservative-run council denies holding any direct investments in Israeli arms firms. But the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) says that does not answer concerns about indirect holdings made through intermediary pension and investment funds, and is calling for full transparency.

The row follows a Freedom of Information response obtained by a member of the public, which campaigners say showed the council had £4.5 million invested in 41 arms companies in 2024. PSC claims £1.3 million of those investments were linked to Israel, and that 15 of the companies named were linked to human rights abuses.

Most of the holdings listed were indirect. Bromley Council has since said it does not hold any direct investments in arms companies linked to Israel.

Data released by Bromley Council in 2024

PSC says more recent FOI requests seeking updated details on those investments have either gone unanswered or been answered only in part, including one response that disclosed what it said was just 44% of all investments. The group brought a petition signed by almost 1,000 people to Bromley Council’s monthly meeting on Monday 23 March, calling for greater transparency.

In a statement, PSC chair Shahada Hasan said: “A statement that there are no direct investments does not address the core issue raised by the petition.

“Many Local Government Pension Scheme investments are held indirectly through pooled funds, and transparency about these holdings is essential for residents and pension scheme members to understand where public funds are ultimately invested.”

She added: “In light of the petition and the previous unsuccessful attempts to obtain this information through FOI requests, we again demand full disclosure of all investments across the Pension Fund and associated portfolios.”

Councillors debated whether any further action should be taken in response to the petition.

Labour councillor Ryan Thomson called for a public consultation on whether residents supported ethical investing. Liberal Democrat councillors also backed the proposal.

During the meeting, Bromley Council’s chair of the pensions committee, Conservative councillor Tickner, repeated a previous statement. He said: “I appreciate many people in Bromley Borough and the rest of the UK are very concerned about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Terrorists, Hamas.

“However international politics are not the business of Bromley Council and we do not intend to get involved with it. It is the responsibility of HM Government and its MPs to introduce sanctions against Israel and its suppliers, if it decides to do so, as is already the case with Russia and Iran.”

One protester walked out during the debate over ethical investing.

Bromley is not alone in facing calls for divestment. The London Collective Investment Vehicle, which pools investments for London councils, is estimated to be worth £55 billion by April 2026.

More recently, four London Assembly members and 150 cross-party councillors from boroughs across the capital signed a letter calling on the LCIV to rule out future investment options linked to Israel and to set a timeline for full divestment. The letter argued that Pillar 3 of the LCIV’s investment policy “excludes only a subset of companies that engage in Israel’s crimes”.

The signatories include Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent politicians, among them Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski.

Since July 2024, eight London councils, including Wandsworth, Islington and Southwark, have passed a motion or issued a statement backing divestment of pension funds from companies involved with Israel.

We have contacted the LCIV for comment and will update this story if it responds.

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