Musician Dave Randall attacks Islington Council over Veolia's West Bank links

Published: 24th June, 2011

A LEADING musician has criticised the Town Hall over alleged links to a French company criticised for its involvement in a West Bank transport project. 

Dave Randall was guitarist in the popular 1990s trance band Faithless, who had a number one album and worked with Dido, Robbie Williams and Paul Oakenfold.

The artist spoke at a meeting of Islington Friends of Yibna, a refugee camp in Gaza which is named after a village near Tel Aviv which Palestinians had to leave in 1948. 

Speaking to the Tribune this week, Mr Randall claimed the council had links with multinational company Veolia. “The company is a partner in the Jerusalem Light Rail project, which links West Jerusalem to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, bypassing Palestinian villages and furthering the annexation of East Jerusalem,” he said. 

“Veolia is complicit in the Occupation by operating bus services in the West Bank, which run on apartheid-style roads for settlers only.”

A spokeswoman for Islington Council said: “Islington Council does not have any direct contract with Veolia. North London Waste Authority does have a tender with Veolia, and we use North London Waste Authority, but so do all the north London councils."