Polanski

Green party leader also accuses rightwing media of politically motivated attacks as popularity growsZack Polanski has said he was wrong to describe himself as a British Red Cross spokesperson, and that intensified media scrutiny of the Green party reflected fears of its rising popularity and support for wealth taxes.Polanski described himself as a British Red Cross spokesperson while campaigning for the party leadership, the Times revealed. The claim was also mentioned on his personal website in 2020 when he said he was “really proud of the work we do”. Continue reading...

Green leader said he hosted fundraisers for the Red Cross but accepts he should not have described himself as a spokesperson for itGood morning. Zack Polanski was largely unknown until he became the Green party leader in September last year and since then, as his party has soared in the polls, there has been intense scrutiny of his pre-politics career. The best-known embarrassing revelation about his past is the fact that he once told a woman he could enlarge her breasts if she listened to his hypnotherapy spiel. Nigel Farage, who also leads a dispruption party enjoying spectacular success, has scandals in his past too, and Polanski’s allies would argue that they are worse. Farage took a £5m donation from a political supporter which he did not declare, he still has not provided as good explanation as to how his partner was able to afford to buy a home in Farage’s Clacton constituency and arguably he told 30 million women that he could enlarge the size of their bank balances if they listened to his spiel on Brexit. Guardian readers can decide for themselves who is more dodgy.But, as we tell our children, life isn’t fair. And it certainly isn’t fair for leftwing politicians campaigning in an environment where the rightwing media have considerable influence. Polanski discovered that again last night when the Times printed a story with various claims about him, of which the main one related to an allegation about his embellishing his CV. Here is our version by Jessica Elgot.I hosted various fundraisers for the British Red Cross, and indeed I would go on stage and speak for them about the amazing work they do tackling humanitarian crises, on the climate crisis and indeed for refugees all around the world.I used the wrong word and I accept that.It feels some of these stories feel like scraping the barrel to go back 10, 15 years.I’ve had so many friends – I’m literally talking maybe 20 or 30 in the last few weeks – who have phoned me and said a Times journalist has been phoning and they’ve been desperately trying to find things about your past. They asked me lots of questions and seem disappointed that I didn’t have some juicy, dirty gossip. Continue reading...

Green party leader also accused of incorrectly stating he was a full member of the National Council of HypnotherapyZack Polanski falsely claimed to be a spokesperson for the British Red Cross while campaigning for Green party leadership, the charity has said.This was also mentioned on his personal website in 2020, where he said he was “really proud of the work we do”. Continue reading...

Green leader also says he would discourage ‘globalise the intifada’ chant but outlawing it would restrict free speechZack Polanski has said he would discourage pro-Palestine protesters from using the chant “globalise the intifada”, but the Green party leader warned against specifically outlawing the phrase or banning a protest planned in London later this month.Speaking earlier in the weekend, Keir Starmer called for “tougher action” against marchers using the chant after last week’s attack on Jewish people in Golders Green, saying pro-Gaza marches risked having a cumulative effect of being intimidating. Continue reading...

Heidi Alexander criticises Green leader over retweet of post suggesting police used excessive force when arresting suspectGood morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has said Zack Polanski’s retweeting of a post suggesting the police used excessive force when they arrested the suspect in the Golders Green attack last week was “disgusting” and “absolutely abhorrent” as she claimed he was not “fit to lead a political party”.Polanski retweeted, without comment, a post on X alleging that officers were “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” when he was already incapacitated by a stun gun.I thought it was disgusting what he did and absolutely abhorrent. Those police officers ran towards danger, they were armed only with a Taser that they had already discharged. The guy still had a knife in his hand. They were armed with their courage and their training.And I think for the leader of a political party to jump onto Twitter, start retweeting content criticising those policemen who responded with incredible bravery in what was a very difficult situation. I think it demonstrates that the man is not fit to lead a political party. Continue reading...

From legitimate scrutiny to lurid scare stories, the Green party’s rise has brought a sudden spike in attentionIt is the lot of smaller parties that grow rapidly that they tend to endure something of a trial by the media in the UK. The attention from some of the newspapers and broadcasters to the Green party before this week’s elections has occasionally borne an unlikely resemblance to the height of Clegg-mania in the spring of 2010, when the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, was rewarded for his positive polling with the unlikely Daily Mail headline “Clegg in Nazi slur on Britain”.All manner of colourful tales have emerged about Green policies and personnel as the party has risen up the national opinion polls, making them something of a target for news editors and reporters. That attention has ranged from legitimate questions over the views of members to more eccentric warnings of a dire future for everyone in Britain from exotic animals to members of the clergy. Continue reading...

PM said the repost was ‘disgraceful’ after Green leader apologised and said he had shared tweet ‘in haste’Keir Starmer has condemned Zack Polanski as “disgraceful” and unfit to head a political party after the Greens leader shared a social media post critical of the way police tackled the suspect in the Golders Green stabbings.The prime minister said any criticism of the police involved in the arrest was unfair on officers having to make split-second decisions in a moment of potentially grave danger. Continue reading...

Apology comes after head of Met police said Green party leader risked undermining public confidence in his officersZack Polanski has apologised for sharing a social media post critical of police after the Golders Green stabbings, after the head of the Metropolitan police said the Green leader risked undermining public confidence in his officers.Polanski, who leads the Greens in England and Wales, said he was sorry for having shared someone else’s post “in haste”. Continue reading...

The Green party leader reshared a post on social media that appeared to show officers kicking the suspect in the Golders Green attack in the headFull report: Zack Polanski’s criticism of Golders Green attack arrest will have ‘chilling effect’, says Met chiefMorning, welcome to our UK politics blog.The Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley has denied he was “intervening in politics” after he wrote an open letter to Zack Polanski over the way officers arrested the Golders Green attack suspect. Continue reading...

Mark Rowley defends officers who arrested suspect in Wednesday’s incident and calls on Green party leader to show solidarity The Metropolitan police chief has said that Green party leader Zack Polanski sharing a post about the arrest of the Golders Green terror suspect will have a “chilling effect”.Met officers arrested a 45-year-old man after two Jewish people were stabbed in the suburb of north-west London on Wednesday. Police said the suspect was shot with a stun gun to subdue him. Continue reading...

Green party leader accuses Keir Starmer of ‘silly games’ in accusing his party of playing down hate crimesZack Polanski has called on politicians to treat antisemitism with “consideration, care and nuance” as he accused Keir Starmer of trying to play political games with the issue.The Green leader’s comments come after the prime minister accused him of playing down recent antisemitic incidents. Polanski’s party is facing increasing scrutiny for recent comments by some candidates and members. Continue reading...

Leader understood to have spoken to 10 trade unions after party claimed working class voters are turning to themZack Polanski has kicked off a charm offensive designed to convince trade unions to stop funding Labour and throw their weight behind the Green party, as he delivered the first in a series of speeches to union conferences.The Green leader has had “good conversations” with 10 trade unions, including some affiliated to Labour, according to party sources, and is due to address the University and College Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, not affiliated with Labour, in the coming months. Continue reading...

Offer to reform taxes, tackle ‘rip-off Britain’ and overhaul fiscal rules could tempt exasperated Labour supportersZack Polanski says Greens would ditch GDP targets and focus on wellbeing insteadThe venue for Zack Polanski’s economic speech on Wednesday – a sunny north London garden centre – could hardly have been more different to the sombre City backdrop for Rachel Reeves’s Mais lecture on Tuesday.The chancellor was, as it happens, the last politician to give a major economic speech at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the leftwing thinktank that invited the Green party leader, Polanski, to set out his stall as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations. Back in 2018 it hosted the speech in which, as a backbencher, Reeves called for an “everyday economics” that would prioritise the needs of low-paid workers. Continue reading...

Leader uses first major economic speech to prioritise public services and reduction of inequality over growthA government led by the Green party would not set targets for GDP growth but would instead focus on people’s mental health, social cohesion and community welfare, Zack Polanski has said in a major speech to set out his plans for the economy.In his first policy address since taking over as leader of the Greens in England and Wales six months ago, Polanski condemned what he called “rip-off Britain”, where a minority of asset owners benefited at the expense of people obliged to pay unaffordable sums for housing and other basics. Continue reading...

Exclusive: England and Wales Greens leader outlines economic policy including help to meet rising energy costs and water re-nationalisationSuccessive governments have turned the UK from a manufacturing economy to one where the basics of life have been privatised and are rented back to people at a crushing cost, Zack Polanski will say.In a speech billed as the Green leader’s biggest policy intervention since he took over as leader six months ago, Polanski will argue that decades of gradual economic rebalancing in favour of a minority who own assets has left much of the country vulnerable to economic shocks such as the current rise in fuel prices. Continue reading...