Zack Polanski is keen on social media. But his use of it is not always prudent. He lately shared an image on Instagram showing a man wearing a black T-shirt with the words “we’re only making plans for Nigel” alongside a picture of a guillotine. Cue outrage from Nigel Farage and reports by Reform UK to the police.
The response may be overblown, as it’s hard to see how a pitiful joke could count as incitement. But what was Polanski thinking? The murders of David Amess, Jo Cox and former MP Ann Widdecombe should have impressed upon him the risks to politicians in an open society. The Green Party’s absurd and sententious response that he didn’t realise what he was posting and that everyone should instead show kindness merely compounds the offence.
Polanski has led the Greens for almost 10 months. He has achieved historic success, with victories in the Gorton and Denton by-elections and in council elections. But polling results appear to be turning. One poll this week for More in Common puts Labour ahead, at the Greens’ expense. Another poll, from YouGov, puts the Greens eight points down from a February peak.
Perhaps Andy Burnham’s bounce will prove short-lived. But Polanski’s shortcomings have been progressively exposed in recent months. I’ll call it: he does not possess the intellectual depth, character and political judgment that would allow him to chart a way back.
First, he’s scarcely a master of policy detail. His views on economics are bizarre. On Laura Kuenssberg’s BBC programme in November, Polanski said loans from the Bank of England are “money we owe to ourselves, it’s not borrowing or a debt in any real sense” and that “a household economy is nothing like a national budget”.
These are telltale signs he’s been influenced by a fringe theory called Modern Money Theory. In essence, it takes a mere truism (that a central bank with its sovereign currency can print money) and draws the alarming inference that constraints don’t really exist. I don’t believe Polanski understands these issues or would be able to defend his position under pressure.
Second, Polanski’s character flaws are increasingly emerging to public view. If, as is alleged, he failed to pay council tax on the narrowboat that served as his main residence for three years, then this would not be a minor peccadillo but a matter of basic honesty. (Polanski has apologised for any “unintentional mistake” and it remains unclear if he does owe council tax.) Puzzlingly, the response of his party’s spokesperson was to tell Times journalists who had reported the story that he had stayed on the boat only occasionally. That was a lie, for which Polanski has not apologised.
Third, and there’s no polite way of putting it, Polanski has an affinity with James Thurber’s great creation Walter Mitty. Again and again he has given biographical details that turn out not to be true. He was never a spokesperson for the Red Cross. He never worked at the Ministry of Justice. Why does he say these things, which are easily checked? What whopper will he come out with next?
And fourth, there is an ugly element in fringe politics that appears to have entered the Green Party and sees Polanski as its champion, much as happened to Labour under Jeremy Corbyn. The antisemitic comments – nothing to do with Gaza, but such epithets as Jewish “cockroaches” – made by Green council candidates are legion. And the leadership looks the other way.
The Greens could attract many tactical votes at the next election from people who (like me) wish to defeat Reform. I suspect Polanski is a liability to that end. He is a standing risk to the Greens’ claims for seriousness and probity. And once lost, that reputation will be hard to retrieve.
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