Sheffield Labour has announced plans to end its partnership with the Green Party following a disagreement over a motion passed at the Greens’ national conference.

Council leader Fran Belbin confirmed today, Monday 2 November, that Labour will propose running Sheffield City Council alone with a full council meeting on Wednesday.

The two parties have run the council together since the local elections in May, with Labour holding 26 of the council’s 84 seats and Green holding 19.

The disagreement began after the Green Party passed a motion titled “Zionism is racism” at its national conference in October.

Labour criticised and called on the Green Party to publicly reject it, deeming it anti-Semitic.

In response, Sheffield Green Party accused Labour of ending the partnership because of the pressure from the national party.

The Green group said: “They are throwing away our joint working agreement because of top-down demands from London.”

The Greens have said they remain willing to discuss the situation with Labour.

Belbin has said council services will not be affected by the proposed changes. If the plans go ahead, Labour would continue running the council as a minority administration, without an overall majority.