At a meeting last week, the council agreed to divest from companies that profit from the global arms trade by March 2026 – but activists say they will keep protesting until that happens, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

Palestine protesters outside Waltham Forest Town Hall on 27th November, Credit: WFFP

Pro-Palestine activists say they will continue protesting against Waltham Forest Council until it has “fully divested” from companies “profiting from Israel’s genocide and apartheid“.

A freedom of information request earlier this year revealed that £6.6million of Waltham Forest’s pension money had been invested in companies that send weapons to Israel or operate in or are linked to illegal Israeli settlements.

Israel has been at war with Hamas, the militant governing body of Gaza, since around 1,200 Israelis were killed in an attack last October. Israel’s heavy retaliation, which UN experts and Amnesty International have called a “genocide”, has left more than 43,000 Gazans dead.

At a meeting on 27th November, members of the council’s pension committee agreed a “firm legal definition” of the arms trade that will allow it to “work towards” divestment.

They agreed to avoid investment in companies that generated revenue through the sale of a host of ‘controversial weapons,’ including chemical weapons, biological weapons, antipersonnel mines, incendiary weapons, and white phosphorus.

The committee also agreed a roadmap that marks March 2026 as the date for divestment. Over the next 15 months, the town hall will discuss the impact of potential policy changes, which are due to be proposed in March next year.

The council does not handle its pension investments directly. The responsibility lies with London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV), which oversees the pension funds of all 32 borough councils in London.

Members of the pension board, a separate body to the committee, called the links to such companies “troubling” in June before the council began exploring how it could pull investments in July. However, divestments must not financially harm the council, resource director Rob Manning warned in the summer.

A WF4FP spokesperson said today (5th December): “Whilst we were pleased that the pension committee finally renewed its commitment to not invest in any companies involved in arms manufacture, selling or transportation, we are still waiting on a concrete plan and reasonable timeline for full divestment from all companies complicit in human rights abuses which the Waltham Forest pension fund still invests in.”

She added that the group wanted “some guarantee” proposals for a new fund would offer “genuine, ethical divestment”.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We will continue campaigning and protesting until full divestment of the pension fund is realised.”

Committee chair Johar Khan said councillors were committed to “investing ethically, in line with its environmental, social, and governance values, as it continues to ensure the pension scheme continues to deliver for those who rely on it”.

Cllr Khan added: “We were one of the first councils to divest from fossil fuel companies, and we are again leading the way as one of the first to investigate divesting from firms involved in the arms trade.

“We have been very clear at all times that this is a complicated piece of work that will take time to get right.”

He said an upcoming independent valuation of the fund, including the proposed timeline, demonstrated the town hall’s commitment to divest “in a transparent and open manner”.

Prior to the November meeting, the activists had marched from the Barclays in Hoe Street, targeting it for the bank’s links to companies involved in the arms trade, to the town hall in Forest Road.

They were pictured holding banners and illuminated signs that read, “Divest now”.

The next pension committee meeting is scheduled for 12th March.

Cllr Khan said councillors were also working with the LCIV to “influence investments that fall outside of the arms trade, for example in organisations that may have been accused of human rights abuses throughout the world”.

Representatives from LCIV will give a formal update at the next committee meeting, he said.

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