Oliver has welcomed recent progress in his campaign to ban public bodies from imposing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against foreign countries. 

As the MP for one of the largest Jewish communities in the country, Oliver helped secure a 2019 manifesto commitment to ban BDS campaigns, which are usually targeted at Israel. 

In February, an amendment to the Public Service Pensions Bill was passed which aims to ban BDS campaigns from public sector pension schemes. This took place alongside a petition calling for Hertfordshire County Council to boycott Israel with its own pension scheme, which was opposed by Oliver and his Conservative colleagues on the council. 

Oliver said: 'As part of my commitment to the Jewish community on a local and national level, I have long campaigned for an end to divisive BDS campaigns. The state of Israel is invariably the subject of these campaigns, which are used to undermine community cohesion and target a longstanding ally of the UK.     

I was delighted in February to vote for an amendment to the Public Service Pensions Bill which aims to ban BDS campaigns from public sector pension schemes. The passing of this amendment marks a crucial first step in preventing taxpayer money being used to fund divisive BDS campaigns and I look forward to further action on this in the near future. 

I was pleased as well to see the proposal before Hertfordshire County Council to boycott Israel with its own pension scheme go no further. This local incident highlighted how important it is to make good on a blanket ban of BDS across the public sector. With progress already being made in this area, I look forward to seeing our important manifesto pledge fulfilled.'

For more information, you can read about Oliver's interview with the Jewish Chronicle here: https://www.thejc.com/news/news/this-is-the-beginning-of-end-for-bds-vo…