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This is the beginning of end for BDS, vows Tory chairman

Oliver Dowden says he feels a 'cultural affinity' with the Jewish community

February 28, 2022 08:36
dowden
Britain's Conservative party chairman Oliver Dowden leaves after attending the weekly Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, in London, on February 21, 2022. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
2 min read

In some ways, Oliver Dowden MP is an unlikely figure to be at the vanguard of the fight for Israel’s legitimacy.

The Conservative Party Chairman represents a leafy Hertfordshire constituency. He loves country walks, good pub lunches and holidays in Wales with his wife, two children and the pet dog, a “mad” setter called Betsy.

But this is the quintessential Englishman who succeeded in getting a pledge to ban the anti-Israel BDS movement into the 2019 Conservative manifesto.

This week, the Government delivered what Mr Dowden called a “down payment” on that manifesto promise. And he vowed to the JC that it would “make good” on a blanket ban on BDS across the public sector, including universities, where the movement has taken hold.

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BDS