Op-Ed video: The UK's anti-BDS bill will harm the country's reputation

The UK's anti-BDS bill will irrevocably harm the country's global reputation, and is a gift to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Middle East Eye columnist Peter Oborne.

The controversial legislation, known as the The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, seeks to prohibit procurement and investment decisions made by public bodies "influenced by political or moral disapproval of foreign state conduct", such as those encouraged by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The draft legislation includes a clause that singles out Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, and the occupied Golan Heights for special protection.

"The government does not want serious analysis of a bill that... threatens to inflict such grave and permanent damage on Britain's reputation for fair dealing," said Oborne, adding that there are deep problems with the government's management at the committee stage of the proposed legislation.