Polanski says he is not ready to be PM now – but suggests he might be in two years’ time
Zack Polanski has rejected suggestions that he is “the new Jeremy Corbyn of British politics” – while also praising the former Labour leader.
In his Today interview, asked by Nick Robinson how he would avoid becoming the new Corbyn, Polanski replied:
I think me and Jeremy are very different people, and there’s much … you know, the question was almost inviting me to condemn Jeremy Corbyn.
I think there was lots that Jeremy Corbyn was putting forward to this country that I think was really positive. We’ve talked about wealth taxes, about public ownership.
I also think it’s important, speaking for myself right now, that we make sure that we have this vetting process, that it’s really clear that antisemitism, Islamophobia, any form of hatred or hate crime, is not welcome in the Green party.
Asked if he was ready to be prime minister, Polanski replied:
I’m not ready right now. No. I’ve been leader for eight months, and there’s lots of skills and lots of knowledge to get, and I think that’s fine. I think I’m a human being. I’m not perfect.
Asked if he might be ready in two years’ time, he replied:
Well, we’ll see in two years time, won’t we? But I’ll certainly be putting in the work.
Key events
Anas Sarwar says 38 seats on knife-edge, as he claims jailing of council leader shows ‘rotten culture at heart of SNP’
Libby Brooks
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar whipped up a crowd of activists at an eve of poll rally in Glasgow – and by the end of the morning he had everyone chanting his party’s core message: reject Reform, beat the SNP, change Scotland and vote Scottish Labour.
Believe it or not, Scottish Labour is not acting like a party heading for its worst Holyrood result in history, as some polls have predicted.
But Sarwar was clear that everything rests on this ground campaign.
He told supporters that “in the next 24 hours every conversation matters”. Sarwar said 38 seats were on a knife-edge across Scotland, all straight fights between SNP and Labour, which would decide the result of the election.
Asked about the jailing of former SNP council leader Jordan Linden for sexual assaults against young men and boys this morning, Sarwar said that it exposed “the rotten culture at the heart of the SNP”.
Witnesses at the Linden’s trial told the court that the SNP had “downplayed and ignored” their concerns.
On the subject of Keir Starmer, Steven Swinford from the Times says he is said to be planning a “big offer” after the elections to help keep his job. Swinford says:
Keir Starmer is up for the fight. One ally says he will need to be dragged out of No 10. Another talked about how it would look to launch a putsch when we’re on the cusp of rationing jet fuel
Starmer lining up speech. There’s talk of a ‘big offer’ but what does it look like? Genuine discussion around moving on manifesto red lines – ie manifesto outdated for times we are now in – but Starmer thought to be v wary. It carries huge risks in and of itself.
Meanwhile, in the Mail, Jason Groves and Dan Hodges say there is talk of a “Trojan horse” plot – with ministers agreeing to keep Starmer in office, on condition that he drops his opposition to Andy Burnham returning to parliament. Groves and Hodges report:
Preparations are in place for a sympathetic north west Labour MP to step aside as soon as next week to open up a potential route back to Westminster for the Great Manchester mayor.
Ministers would then demand that Sir Keir drop his opposition to Mr Burnham’s return as the price of their continued support.
In return, Mr Burnham would be asked to make a public statement of loyalty to Sir Keir, which would prevent him from mounting an immediate leadership challenge.
Supporters of the idea argue it would avoid plunging Labour into a chaotic snap leadership contest – and give the PM a final chance to show whether he can turn round Labour’s fortunes.
But it would also leave Labour MPs with a ready-made successor if Sir Keir falters in the coming month.
Eluned Morgan won’t say Starmer should stay as PM if Labour loses in Wales – as polls suggests it’s heading for 3rd place
YouGov has also released its final MRP poll for the Senedd election. It suggests Plaid Cymru is on course to be the biggest party, with 43 seats. But, without reaching 49, the number needed for a majority, it would rely on Labour support to govern.
Polling organisations normally produce figures that very roughly align, but in Wales the firms polling this contest have produced results that differ considerably. Survation has just released the results of its final poll and it has produced this seat projection – with a much lower figure for Plaid than in YouGov’s.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, which has made the paper’s splash, Eluned Morgan, the first minister and Welsh Labour leader, suggested Keir Starmer would be to blame for the party losing power in Wales, where it has been the biggest party in elections for 100 years. Asked if Labour could lose because of anti-Starmer protest votes, Morgan said there was “a danger that could happen”.
Morgan also said that beyond “this point in time” she did not want to say she wanted Starmer to stay on as Labour leader.
Speaking to BBC Wales today, Morgan gave the same answer. Asked if she would want Starmer to stay on as Labour leader if the party lost in Wales, she replied:
I’m certainly not getting involved in any speculation about what happens tomorrow or the day after.
Polling expert John Curtice says ‘odds against’ SNP winning majority – as poll suggests it’s on course to win 62 seats
The SNP is set to “gobble up” constituency seats at Holyrood but the “odds are against” John Swinney’s party winning an overall majority, the polling expert John Curtice has said. The Press Association says:
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s breakfast programme this morning, Curtice said studies show the Tories may “just hang on to a handful of constituency seats and the Liberal Democrats will just make a handful of gains”.
This, combined with the prospect of parties such as the Greens and Reform UK winning in some areas, could mean “there are just a relatively small number of contests where the other parties are going to hang on, or in one or two instances make a gain, and that is going to stand between the SNP and victory”, he said.
But he added: “The truth is, trying to forecast exactly what is going to happen in individual seats is very, very difficult.
“If the cookie were to crumble just slightly in the SNP’s favour, the Greens just miss out on some of their hopes, then maybe the SNP might still make it.
“But if the polls are right the odds are against it and the SNP will need a lot of luck.”
Curtice said support for the SNP is “well down” from the last Holyrood election in 2021 – when the party, then under Nicola Sturgeon, polled almost 48% of the constituency votes.
But he also said: “Support for the Conservatives is also well down on what it was in 2021 and perhaps support for Labour is also edging down as well, that would mean the SNP would still gobble up most of the constituencies that they won back in 2021.”
He said polling suggests “Reform have a narrow lead over Labour” in the race for second place. “I don’t think any of us can be sure what is going to happen but we might have a new party being the second largest party in the new parliament, he said.
Curtice was speaking as YouGov issued its final MRP poll of the campaign. It suggests the SNP is on course to win 62 seats – just shy of the 65 it needs for a majority.
Farage claims elections will show Reform UK ‘only true national party’
Nigel Farage has also claimed that Reform UK will be “the only true national party” after the elections tomorrow.
Speaking to journalists at Westminster, Farage said:
The only way to get rid of this awful, unpatriotic prime minister is to go out and vote Reform tomorrow …
I hope and believe we will emerge over the course of the next couple of days as the only true national party.
Reform UK has had a clear lead over all the other parties in GB voting intention for at least a year. But after this week’s elections Farage should be able to make the “national party” claim on the basis that, unless polling is very wrong, Reform UK is the only party likely to come either first or second in the English local elections, in the Scottish parliament election, and in the Welsh Senedd election.
Farage claims he has ‘no case to answer’ over claim he broke Commons rules by not declaring £5m donation
Nigel Farage has claimed he has “no case to answer” in relation to claims that he broke Commons rules when he did not declare the £5m donation he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
The Conservative party has reported Farage to the parliamentary commissioner for standards over the donation, which he got shortly before the 2024 election that led to him becoming an MP for the first time.
Farage and Harborne have both said that was a personal gift, to fund Farage’s security, not a politically motivated donation. Harborne also gave £12m to Reform UK in 2025 that was declared.
Speaking to broadcasters today, Farage said:
I have been physically under attack since 2013. I can’t catch the Underground and I’ll never be able to as long as I live.
And that money was given to me with the knowledge that the state in this country have never, ever wanted to help me.
Asked whether he would refer himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Farage said:
Because why would I? I mean, honestly, we’ve looked at this with lawyers and everything.
There is no case to answer. Of course, the other parties will try and make hay out of it – there’s no case to answer.
Although Farage received the £5m before he became an MP, the donation was made less than a year before the election and the Commons rules say that registerable benefits received less than 12 months before the election must be declared.
Although there is an exemption for gifts that are purely personal, the rules say that gifts should be registered if people might reasonably assume there could be a political motive behind them. The relevant section says MPs do not have to register:
Benefits which could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the house or to the member’s parliamentary or political activities; for example, purely personal gifts or benefits from partners or family members. However, both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered.
Harborne has said the gift was just personal. He told the Telegraph: “I wasn’t expecting anything in return apart from ensuring [Farage’s] safety.”
But if the parliamentary commissioner for standards is trying to work out whether the donation might “reasonably be thought” to be related to Farage’s political activities, he might want to read this Guardian investigation by Tom Burgis.
Polanski criticised for wrongly saying Golders Green suspect was handcuffed when kicked during arrest
The Labour MP David Taylor is one of many people on social media saying that Zack Polanski was wrong when he told the Today programme this morning that it was traumatising seeing the Golders Green suspect being kicked when he was handcuffed. (See 9.33am.) Posting an image from the footage to make his point, Taylor says:
Polanski is at it again – the attacker was not handcuffed, he still had a knife in his hand!
Steve Reed, the housing secretary who has been leading Labour attacks on the Green party during the local elections campaign, also issued this statement responding to the Polanski interview on Today.
Polanski is still refusing to sack candidates who have shared disgusting antisemitic posts despite saying he takes full responsibility for them.
Following the horrific knife attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green he continues to show concern for the suspected attacker. And his response to allegations that he lied about his past job and qualifications shows he simply can’t be trusted.
Labour has criticised Zack Polanski for saying he was concerned about how the suspect in the Golders Green stabbings was treated when he was arrested by the police.
Referring to what Polanski said about this in his Today interview this morning (see 9.33am), a Labour party spokesperson said:
Our brave police ran towards a suspected terrorist and tackled him while he was still carrying a knife and before they could handcuff him.
The fact that Zack Polanski is still sympathising with this individual is utterly astounding. For the Green party leader to be litigating the case for the defence against the police shows whose side he is truly on.
Polanski isn’t serious and he clearly cannot be trusted to protect Britain’s national security.
Iran war could lead to job losses in UK, McFadden says
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, has also said that the Iran war could lead to job losses in the UK.
In his Sky News interview this morning, he said:
The latest unemployment figures for February showed a fall, interest rates were expected to come down, the markets were pricing in a couple of cuts during the course of the year.
The truth is, with the effect of the Iran war, we can’t count on any of that at the moment. There is likely to be an effect on prices, which feeds through from energy costs, and there may well be labour market implications.
Asked if this meant job losses, McFadden replied: “Yes. It could happen.”
Proxies carrying out antisemitic attacks in UK could face 14 years in prison
Offenders who commit antisemitic attacks backed by foreign powers such as Iran will face 14 years in prison under legislation to be included in the king’s speech next week. Rajeev Syal has the story.
Starmer would fight any attempt by Labour MPs to remove him after elections, Pat McFadden says
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, has said that Keir Starmer would fight any attempt by Labour MPs to replace him after the elections.
In an interview on Sky News this morning, McFadden, who is one of the ministers trusted most by Starmer, said:
I think this country has tested to destruction the idea that the answer to your problems is to swipe left on our prime ministers. We’ve seen too much of that in the past 10 to 15 years. It hasn’t solved our problems. It has added to political chaos and uncertainty that has economic as well as political consequences.
The prime minister was elected for a five-year term, and he should serve out that term. His job is to lead the country through uncertain times, and that’s the job I know he wakes up in the morning and wants to do.
Asked if Starmer would fight any potential leadership challenge after the results are announced, McFadden replied:
Yes. I hope there isn’t [a challenge], because I don’t think it would be the answer to our problems.
I hope we do well tomorrow. But even if we don’t, the day after our job is to wake up, continue with doing our job and serve the country.
At one point a challenge to Starmer after the May elections was seen as highly likely. But, as Pippa Crerar, Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker explain in our overnight story, that is now seen as less likely, in part because “expected challengers including Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting [are] locked in what one cabinet minister called a ‘Mexican standoff’, with no one ready to move first”.
Polanski says he is not ready to be PM now – but suggests he might be in two years’ time
Zack Polanski has rejected suggestions that he is “the new Jeremy Corbyn of British politics” – while also praising the former Labour leader.
In his Today interview, asked by Nick Robinson how he would avoid becoming the new Corbyn, Polanski replied:
I think me and Jeremy are very different people, and there’s much … you know, the question was almost inviting me to condemn Jeremy Corbyn.
I think there was lots that Jeremy Corbyn was putting forward to this country that I think was really positive. We’ve talked about wealth taxes, about public ownership.
I also think it’s important, speaking for myself right now, that we make sure that we have this vetting process, that it’s really clear that antisemitism, Islamophobia, any form of hatred or hate crime, is not welcome in the Green party.
Asked if he was ready to be prime minister, Polanski replied:
I’m not ready right now. No. I’ve been leader for eight months, and there’s lots of skills and lots of knowledge to get, and I think that’s fine. I think I’m a human being. I’m not perfect.
Asked if he might be ready in two years’ time, he replied:
Well, we’ll see in two years time, won’t we? But I’ll certainly be putting in the work.
UK should not try rejoining EU until it accepts it won’t get special à la carte deal it had before, Polish foreign minister says
Jakub Krupa
Jakub Krupa writes the Guardian’s Europe live blog.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has warned that Britain would not get a similar deal to its previous EU membership as it pursues a reset in relations with the bloc, warning that British political elites need to “internalise the fundamental European deal” on pooling sovereignty.
“Without that homework, we wouldn’t want you as a member, because you would be unhappy, and we would be unhappy,” he said.
Speaking at a defence conference in Warsaw, he commented at length about Britain’s plans to renegotiate a closer relationship with the EU and regularly appearing comparisons between the UK and Poland.
Well, I’ve declared publicly that if Britain re-applies, Poland will vote in favour. But Britain will not get the same deal that it had before because you had a de facto à la carte membership. You had an opt out from being a member of the Schengen zone. You had an opt out from joining the euro, you had vetoes. You had two important agencies, pharmaceutical and financial services. and so you integrated where it suited your interests, and of course, you had the famous agricultural rebates, negotiations negotiated by the saintly Margaret Thatcher.
You wouldn’t get that kind of deal today, which means that you probably would reject the deal.
I don’t think it makes sense for Britain to apply until you internalise – your political class and beyond – the fundamental European deal that, you get more benefits in return for more pooling of some aspects of sovereignty. If you reject that fundamental deal, you will never be a happy member.
But there is a menu of choices. as regards your relationship with the EU, you can be in the customs union like Turkey. You can be in the single market without being a member like Norway. You can have a Swiss kind of relationship, but every item on the menu has a price in terms of sovereignty, in terms of honouring rules that you didn’t make yourself. And Britain seems unable to to accept that kind of deal.
And first of all, you know, at the time of the referendum … I travelled to Britain often. Not a single member of the British cabinet understood the difference between a free trade area and a single market, because you you didn’t bother to learn how the EU actually worked. And without that homework, we wouldn’t want you as a member because you would, you would be unhappy and we would be unhappy.
Commenting on regular warnings about Poland reportedly catching up with the UK’s economy by 2030, he said:
When I read these stories in the Daily Mail about how even Poland will soon overtake Britain, I become suspicious because I don’t think they are meant out of sympathy. They are meant to humiliate the current British government that even Poland is on track to overtake Britain: not in the standard of living; in GDP per capita. It’s not the same thing.
Polanski claims only ‘handful’ of antisemitism cases amongst Green candidates – but vetting and training to be beefed up
Zack Polanski has said the Green party will introduce compulsory training to make it clear that antisemitism is “completely unwelcome” in the party.
He was speaking in his Today programme interview when asked about the multiple examples of Green party candidates in the local elections making antisemitic comment. Labour has attacked the Greens relentlessly over this, and today the Daily Mail has splashed on a report accusing 30 Green candidates of antisemitism.
When Nick Robinson quoted some of the worse examples to Polanski, Polanski replied:
Those messages are all unacceptable, and it’s important to condemn that.
The Green party are an anti-racist party, and it’s important that we stick to our values.
When it was put to him that the views of some candidates implied the Greens were not an anti-racist party, Polanski went on:
We’re an anti-racist party. And so what I’ve already committed to doing is making sure that we have a standardised vetting process in future, and also make sure that we have compulsory training of all our candidates to make it clear that antisemitism is completely unwelcome in the Green party, as it is in society.
It’s 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.
Polanski also said this issue was not abstract for him. He is Jewish, and he said two people have been arrested in the past six weeks over threats against him.
Polanski defends Green party’s policy to ‘legalise and regulate’ hard drugs, saying ‘the regulate is important’
Zack Polanski defended the Green party’s proposal to legalise hard drugs in his Today programme interview. He stressed that the policy was “to legalise and regulate, and the regulate is important”.
He told the programme
The war on drugs has clearly failed. It has failed in cities right across this country and more and more people are often taking dangerous drugs.
So, do we want people to buy them on the black market or on street corners? Or do we want people to go to a pharmacy or a medical health professional where, if they have an addiction to dangerous drugs, we can work with them to take a public health approach based on harm reduction?
Polanski said this policy would allow the police to spend more time on other problems.
A lot of police time is spent on stop and search for cannabis use, for instance. It doesn’t escape people’s notice that that is often in the politics of racism. If you’re a young black person, I think it’s something like you’re 18 times more likely to be stopped and searched than your white peer, despite the fact there’s no evidence that they’re more likely to to be dealing or using drugs.
And so I think it’s important that we make sure the police time is spent properly, which I think is about community prevention, about cohesiveness and bringing communities together.
Polanski defends being concerned about how suspect in Golders Green attack was treated by police
Zack Polanski defended expressing concern about the way the suspect in the Golders Green stabbings was treated when he was arrested last week.
The Green leader has apologised for reposting a social media message implying the police used excessive force during the arrest. He said he should not have raised this issue in that way.
But, when he was interviewed on the Today programme, he said it was important for people to be treated properly, even if they had done horrific things.
When Nick Robinson, the presenter, put it to him that by reposting the controversial tweet, he was implying that he emphathised with the attacker, not the police officers, Polanski said he did not accept that. He said:
My very first response to the attack was to be horrified, as everyone was, I’m sure, and the first thing I posted was solidarity to the victim, to the family, and indeed, to people who are suffering right now.
Polanski said that he was Jewish himself, and that for Jewish people safety was not an “abstract” issue.
He went on:
Two things can be true at the same time: officers are incredibly brave when they run towards scenes of crimes that most people, including myself, will want to run away from.
At the same time, I think it is accurate, and that I was also traumatised by seeing someone handcuffed and repeatedly kicked in the head …
I think the sign of a compassionate society is how we treat people, even people who have done horrific things, because actually the way we do justice in this country is in court.
Polanski accuses Times of ‘scraping the barrel’ over his claim to be charity spokesperson, saying he just ‘used wrong word’
Good 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.
So it was not hard to guess what the first question would be when Polanski was interviewed by Nick Robinson on the Today programme a few minutes ago.
Asked why Polanski in the past said he was a spokesperson for the British Red Cross when the charity said he wasn’t, Polanski replied:
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, [British Red Cross] don’t support any political party, and I’ve made sure [that claim has] been taken down.
Polanski attacked the Times for publishing what he described as an antisemitic cartoon of him last week. They should apologise for it, he said. And he went on:
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.
There was a lot more in the interview, and I will post more from it soon.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, is campaigning in London.
10am: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, holds an election rally.
Lunchtime: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, is campaigning in Llandudno.
Afternoon: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Surrey.
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