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Op-Ed video: The UK's anti-BDS bill will harm the country's reputation

The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill will damage the UK's international reputation and is a gift to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, argues Peter Oborne

The UK's anti-BDS bill will irrevocably harm the country's global reputation, and is a gift to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Middle East Eye columnist Peter Oborne.

The controversial legislation, known as the The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, seeks to prohibit procurement and investment decisions made by public bodies "influenced by political or moral disapproval of foreign state conduct", such as those encouraged by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The draft legislation includes a clause that singles out Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, and the occupied Golan Heights for special protection.

"The government does not want serious analysis of a bill that... threatens to inflict such grave and permanent damage on Britain's reputation for fair dealing," said Oborne, adding that there are deep problems with the government's management at the committee stage of the proposed legislation.

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Peter Oborne won best commentary/blogging in both 2022 and 2017, and was also named freelancer of the year in 2016 at the Drum Online Media Awards for articles he wrote for Middle East Eye. He was also named as British Press Awards Columnist of the Year in 2013. He resigned as chief political columnist of the Daily Telegraph in 2015. His latest book is The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam, published in May by Simon & Schuster. His previous books include The Triumph of the Political Class, The Rise of Political Lying, Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran and The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism.
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