Labour are ‘handmaidens’ to Reform UK’s ‘dangerous’ politics, Polanski to tell Green conference

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Good morning. The Green party starts its conference today, with its membership up to a record high (over 80,000) following the election of “eco-populist” Zack Polanski as leader. But the Greens struggle for coverage at the best of times, and these aren’t the best of times. The news today will be dominated by the repurcussions from the Manchester synagogue attack.

We are covering the synagogue terror attack on a separate live blog and that will be the place to go to updates.

The attack has triggered a fierce political debate about the causes of rising antisemitism, and I will be picking up on some of that here. But the events in Manchester are subject to an ongoing police investigation and, if we do open comments, we won’t be allowing comments relating directly to them BTL. If readers don’t comply with at, comments will get closed.

According to extracts of his speech released in advance, Polanski is going to accuse Labour of playing “handmaidens” to the the “dangerous, deceitful politics” of Reform UK. He will say:

When Farage says jump, Labour asks ‘how high’. But the Greens won’t dance to the tune of a Trump-loving, NHS-dismantling corporate stooge. Let’s say it loud and clear: migrants and refugees are not the problem; they are part of what makes Britain great. The real threat to our high streets, to our homes, to our NHS, comes from decades of austerity, privatisation and an economic system that rigs the rules for billionaires.

Polanski will also restate his party’s commitment to invest more in public services with the proceeds of a wealth tax.

At every opportunity, our message will be clear: the Green party will bring down your bills, cut the cost of living and protect our NHS … We will tax the wealthiest, end rip-off Britain, and invest in public services that work for everyone …

If Reform can rocket through the polls with a politics of despair, then it’s time for the Green party to do the same thing with a politics of hope.

According to the speech extracts released overnight, Polanski’s will also describe Reform UK’s politics as “hateful” and “divisive”. But in interviews this morning he has also been grilled over comments by Mothin Ali, the Green co-deputy party leader, that led to a former university rabbi having to flee his home. Polanski said Ali had apologised for those comments. I will post more details soon.

Polanski is addressing the conference at 1.30pm, and at 3.45pm Andrew Slaughter, the Green leader in Wales, is speaking.

Otherwise, there is not much in the diary today, but two events are happening in private today that are significant. The Office for Budget Responsibility is due to hand its latest economic forecasts to the Treasury, which will in effect tell her quite how much tax she will need to rise in the budget next month. And Kemi Badenoch is chairing a shadow cabinet meeting where they will discuss the plan to leave the European convention on human rights that Badenoch is due to announce on Sunday.

Key events

Polanski criticises Shabana Mahmood for saying pro-Palestine marches should have been cancelled after Manchester attack

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, said this morning that the pro-Palestine marches that took place last night, in London and in Manchester, should have been cancelled in the light of the synogogue attack. She said they were “dishonourable”, and disrepectful to the Jewish community that was grieving.

The campaigners were protesting against Israel’s interception of an aid flotilla heading for Gaza, and they wanted the UK government to condemn Israel’s action.

In his Sky News interview, asked if he agreed with Mahmood, Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, said he thought she was being “deeply irresponsible” too, like Kemi Badenoch. (See 10.15am.)

I think ultimately conflating protests against a genocide in Gaza, and ultimately weaponising that against an antisemitic attack on our streets, a terrorist attack, is deeply irresponsible.

Democratic, non-violent protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, and I think it’s worrying when government are increasingly trying to crush down dissent. And using what is a brutal attack … to point at a protest and say people don’t have a right to also speak out against a genocide is conflating issues, is incoherent, and it’s exactly the opposite of what we need from politicians.

We need statesmanship in this moment, we need responsibility, we need people to be sensitive about that language, but also recognise that there is complexity to this, and it can’t just be about finger pointing at people who are very worried about a genocide.

Polanski says migration has been UK’s ‘superpower’ and that inequality, not new arrivals, are to blame for country’s problems

Zack Polanski has set out some of the arguments he will be using in his Green party conference speech later in an article for the Guardian. In it, he defends immigration, saying it has been the UK’s “superpower”.

Here is an extract.

Labour is capitulating to the anti-migrant talking points of Reform, all while talking the language of decency and fairness. It makes my toes curl.

But I am here to do what others won’t. To tell the truth about what makes our country great and what makes it not so great. While others thrive on creating scapegoats, I am here to tell you a different story.

The tapestry of cultural life in Britain is what makes our nation strong. From the doctors, nurses and carers who staff our NHS and who look after our elderly people, to the entrepreneurs, artists and teachers who enrich our culture and economy. Migration is our DNA as a country, it is our superpower …

The truth is simple: Britain is not broken because of migration. Britain is broken because of inequality. Because of an economy that allows billionaires to hoard wealth while millions struggle to get by. Because of a political class that has lost its nerve and forgotten its purpose.

And here is the full article.

Polanski says it is mistake to conflate campaigning against genocide in Gaza with antisemitism

Yesterday Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, argued that rising antisemitism was linked to the language used by some pro-Palestinian campaigners since the 7 October Hamas attack that started the Israel-Gaza war. She said:

I think the calls to globalise the intifada have been disgraceful. We’ve seen people using those words on placards around Westminster. That’s what globalising the intifada looks like. It means killing Jewish people. And I think there’s been far too much tolerance of a lot of rhetoric at many levels.

In an interview with Sky News this morning, Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, said that he did not agree and that he thought Badenoch was being “deeply irresponsible”. He explained:

We need to not conflate the Jewish community and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and actually putting those two things together, I say, personally as a Jewish person, makes me feel more at risk.

I think you can both be absolutely clear that antisemitism and Islamophobia in our country is totally unacceptable, and you stand against the ongoing genocide, and our government’s complicity – in fact, active enabling – by sellling arms to Israel. Those are two different issues.

Zack Polanski on Sky News this morning. Photograph: Sky News

Polanski partially defends Green co-deputy leader over anti-Israel comments, saying it’s ‘contextual’ and he’s apologised

In an interview on the Today programme, Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, was asked at length about anti-Israel comments by the co-deputy leader, Mothin Ali, and other Green members. Polanski said some of the comments referenced were “totally unacceptable”, but he also said it was important to understand the context, and he said Ali deserved credit for apologising.

Justin Webb, the presenter, said that after 7 October Ali described Israelis as colonialists and defended the right of indigenous people to fight back. Ali apologised. But Ali had also targeted a Leeds-based rabbi who went to Israel after 7 October to serve as a reservist in the IDF, Webb said. He asked if Ali was the right person to be deputy leader of a political party.

Polanski said that Ali had apologised. Asked if that was enough, he went on:

Well, I want to be clear that I’m a Jewish person, and I feel this genocide incredibly deeply.

As a Muslim man, I can only imagine what it feels like to know that every single day in Palestine the equivalent of a classroom of children are dying.

Asked if that excused those views, Polanski replied:

It doesn’t excuse it, but I think it’s contextual. This rabbi went off to fight for the IDF … I absolutely defend [Ali’s] right to be annoyed and upset about what is happening.

Webb said the rabbi had to move out of his home. He asked Polanski if the “context” explained that. Polanski replied:

I think there is a context to this. I think if someone goes to fight with an army who’s committing a genocide, that there are consequences.

Now I don’t stand by what Mothin said, and neither does he. But ultimately, I do think we need to have a context on this.

Webb then asked about a Green councillor in Bristol reprimanded for sharing a Hamas video on social media. In the video Israel was described as an “animal state”.

Polanski said that he did not know about this case, but he said that as a Jewish man he was very upset about what was happening in Palestine.

Webb said the Green party had members who suggested it was not legitimate to be a Jew, and that Israel was not legitimate.

Polanski said he did not think anyone had said that, and that Webb should be asking about Israel committing genocide.

Webb then a lot of people were arguing that views like this, saying Israel is an animal state, were simply unacceptable, and people saying them should not be allowed to take part in civilised society. He suggested Polanski did not agree.

Polanski said that Webb was “conflating” various issues, but that those words were “totally unacceptable”.

Webb again said parties should take responsibility. Polanski said apologising was taking responsibility. He said Ali was a Muslim, and Islamophobia is on the rise, he said. And he said Ali issued a statement yesterday about the synagogue attack that he found very moving.