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Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
Green deputy leader Zack Polanski has vowed to stand against the far-right and “tell the truth” about immigration and racism.
In a conference speech weeks after riots erupted across the UK in the wake of false claims about the murder of three girls at a dance class in Southport, Mr Polanski praised counter-demonstrators who marched in opposition to the far-right.
And he said the threat to Britain “is not arriving by dinghy or a small boat – they’re flying in a private jet”.
Addressing hundreds of party members and activists in Manchester, he promised the Greens would “reject both Antisemitism and Islamophobia”.
As well as accusing the Conservatives of lying about the scale of the immigration crisis facing Britain, Mr Polanski took aim at Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
“We won’t forget Labour politicians that echo Tory lies like ‘we have lost control of our borders’,” he said.
It came a day after Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay used his opening speech to Green members to attack the “lacklustre offers and U-turns” of the party under Sir Keir.
The Greens have seen a surge in members as many disaffected left-wing Labour supporters have ditched the party over issues including the war in Gaza and climate change.
While he promised to work with Labour on issues where the parties agree, Mr Ramsay condemned Sir Keir’s decision to withdraw the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners and the “half-hearted” suspension of some arms sales to Israel.
Drawing the battle lines for next year’s local elections, and the next general election, Mr Polanski continued the attacks on Labour, accusing the party of “cruelty affecting the most vulnerable children”.
“We are so needed – we’re two months in and Labour are still supporting the two child benefit cap,” he added.
He highlighted the Green Party’s immediate calls for a ceasefire in Gaza after the October 7 terror attacks, something for which Sir Keir has been heavily criticised. And he said: “In telling the truth – we recognise peace just can’t happen until we end our own government’s complicity in violence.
“We must end further arms sales to Israel—and to all countries breaking international law.”
Elsewhere in his speech, the London Assembly member accused the British media of encouraging disinformation and fanning the flames of the violent disorder in the wake of the Southport tragedy. Mr Polanski said there is “a very narrow window of the things you’re allowed to say – and the things you absolutely aren’t”.
And he said the Green Party’s electoral breakthrough in July, which saw it win almost 2m votes and secure four Westminster MPs, was driven by its ability to “cut through and communicate with honesty”.
“I don’t blame the media for absolutely everything that’s gone wrong in the history of time – but I am saying there might just be some work for them to do,” Mr Polanski added.
Listing historic events such as Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists marching in the East End of London, he said “the point about the media is that they refused to tell the truth even back then”.
“And recently, we’ve all seen the racist riots sparked by decades of anti-migrant rhetoric by politicians and in the media,” he added.
Mr Polanski was addressing the Green Party conference on its second day in Manchester, where its four new MPs will also hold a “meet the MPs” session for members.
Members will also get the chance to vote on motions including one which would see the party call for closer alignment with the European Union and lay the groundwork for Britain eventually rejoining the bloc.
