The Government has received permission to appeal a court ruling that found its attempt to prevent councils boycotting Israel through their pension schemes was ‘unlawful'.

Responding to a parliamentary question from former Richmond upon Thames RLBC councillor Baroness Tonge, junior minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, said: ‘The Government is strongly opposed to boycotts, which undermine its work to support the peace process and achieve a negotiated solution.'