Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, has acknowledged that he was incorrect to describe himself as a spokesperson for the British Red Cross, while also alleging that intensified media scrutiny of his party reflects fears over its rising popularity and support for wealth taxes.
The Times newspaper revealed that Polanski had referred to himself as a British Red Cross spokesperson during his campaign for the party leadership. This claim also appeared on his personal website in 2020, where he expressed pride in the work carried out by the charity. However, the British Red Cross clarified that Polanski had never held the role of spokesperson for the organisation and confirmed that it had raised the matter with the Green Party.
In response, Polanski defended his actions during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, stating: "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, but I would essentially take words on stage with me and speak. It's important, though, and I accept this, that they don't support any political party, and I've made sure that's been taken down."
He also accused The Times of unfairly targeting him. "Well, I think it's totally fine to ask me questions about my past," he said. "I would also say, in the same breath though, the Times published a pretty antisemitic cartoon of me last week. I asked them to apologise, and it feels some of these stories feel like scraping the barrel to kind of go back 10, 15 years."
Rising Popularity and Wealth Taxes
Polanski claimed that the Greens' electoral rise had unsettled elements of the political and media establishment. "People who own rightwing media, multimillionaires and billionaires … are worried about the prospect that they might have to pay a little bit more tax," he asserted. "We had 50,000 members. We've now got 225,000 members. So we are rising."
His comments came on the final day of campaigning for local elections in England and parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, with Labour bracing for a challenging night when results are announced.
Antisemitism Allegations
Polanski also addressed antisemitic comments made by several Green Party candidates. Two candidates running for Lambeth council in south London, Sabine Mairey and Saiqa Ali, were arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred online. "I am responsible," Polanski said. "Those messages are all unacceptable and it's important to condemn that." He confirmed that the party would introduce a standardised vetting process and compulsory antisemitism training for all candidates. "We will make it clear that antisemitism is completely unwelcome in the Green party, as it is in society," he added. Describing the Greens as an anti-racist party, he noted: "It is also important to say one case of antisemitism is one too many. This is a handful of cases and actually we have over 4,500 candidates, the vast, vast majority of which are doing amazing work in their communities right now."
Comparison to Jeremy Corbyn
When asked how he would avoid becoming "the new Jeremy Corbyn of British politics," Polanski said they were "very different people" but acknowledged that Corbyn had proposed many "really positive" policies for governing, including wealth taxes and public ownership. Polanski admitted he was not "ready right now" to become prime minister, having only been party leader for eight months, but pledged to "certainly be putting in the work" over the coming years. "There's lots of skills and lots of knowledge to get, and I think that's fine," he concluded. "I'm a human being. I'm not perfect."
