DEVON County Council has been urged to sell millions of shares its pension fund holds in companies that campaigners say are “contributing” to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Cllr Jacqi Hodgson (Green, Totnes & Dartington) proposed that further to the £2 million the council had already disposed of in such firms, that it sells the £84 million that remains.

This would include the pension fund selling its nearly £2 million stake in British engineering firm Rolls Royce, its nearly £13 million holding in Barclays Bank, almost £5 million-worth of shares in defence firm BAE Systems, and more than £360,000 of share in defence engineering firm Babcock.

Cllr Hodgson’s motion said the council should seek “immediate withdrawal of these investments, particularly in light of the tragic loss of over 20,000 children in Gaza”.

It continued: “Our pension fund should not support activities contributing to such atrocities. Devon County Council seeks to fully divest from these companies and to uphold values of peace, justice, and ethical responsibility.”

The Devon pension fund was worth £6 billion in June, with just over half held in shares.

The sale of such large stakes would be possible, but the trustees who oversee the fund would need to decide how to reuse the money recouped if a sale goes ahead.

Cllr Hodgson proposed the motion at Devon’s full council meeting, and was supported by two public speakers.

Tobias Robshaw, a member of Totnes Friends of Palestine and a town councillor, handed a petition of 1,200 signatures urging the share sale.

He said the town council gave its “unanimous support” to the thrust of the petition.

“Just like when companies are engaging in environmentally destructive practices, whether that’s because of complacency or corruption, companies that profit from that are rightly fully divested from, so companies that profit from or enable the direct destruction of human beings, whether intentionally or not, should always be considered unethical,” he said.

“There should be no public money in the arms trade, especially when those arms go to countries potentially committing war crimes.”

He said many councils had withdrawn investments from Russia when it invaded Ukraine, and that a number of local authorities are selling their investments in firms that could be linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

“By divesting from the Israel arms trade, Devon would add to the momentum around this country with some councils already divesting, including Slough, East Sussex, and the Lothian Pension Fund, while the London Borough of Waltham Forest has also taken steps to divest from the Israeli arms trade,” Mr Robshaw added.

Another member of the public, identified only as Mr Clinch, added that he had “deep concern” about the investment in companies he claimed were “complicit in Israel’s grave breaches of humanitarian law”.

The issue was not debated at the full council, and was deferred to a forthcoming meeting of the investment and pension fund committee.

Bradley Gerrard