"A mistake" | Zack Polanski responds to ‘Nigel’ t-shirt row after being reported to police by Reform

Do you want to take this opportunity to apologise to Nigel Farage?

Well, if I'd done it deliberately, I'd be apologising.But because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it's a mistake, but I also make sure that I condemn political violence.And also, crucially, I make a commitment to be better on my social media.

OK.

Do you want to apologise then, or not?No.The reason for that is because Nigel Farage, when I posted this, or when the person posted it, it got less than 1 ,000 likes.Nigel Farage then took it, cropped it, so it made it look like I posted it, which I think was fundamentally dishonest.It's now had 3 .2 million views.So actually, this whole conversation has been seen more because Nigel Farage, Lee Youssef, and I think Richard Tice posted it.

So I'm accepting my responsibility in that I shouldn't have accepted that collaboration.I'm accepting that we all need to condemn political violence.But I also think the reporting to the police, the ramping up of the language to say this is incitement to murder me, feels like that's also putting me in a dangerous spot.

Police continue to look into reports about a social media post by the Green Party leader, Zak Polanski.Reform UK reported Mr Polanski to the police after he shared this on Instagram.Several images, which included a photo of a man wearing a T -shirt with a picture of a guillotine below the words, we're only making plans for Nigel.Reforms Nigel Farage has said, if I was to post anything as insightful then I would expect to be arrested and so should Polanski.Well, Mr Polanski is here.Good evening to you.

Good evening, Victoria.

Have the police been in touch yet?

No, they haven't.

Would you expect them to be?Do you expect them to be?

It feels quite surreal to be having this conversation because I think, first of all, it's important to establish for facts.This was not my post.It was a collaboration from a photographer.It had 20 images and I just didn't look carefully enough and I accepted it.As soon as I was aware of what happened, I unaccepted it and took it down.I think it would be odd for the police to speak to me about that because I think it's quite obvious that I've

not done anything wrong other than making an inadvertent mistake.That being said, if the police do want to talk to me, of course, I'm very happy to cooperate.

OK.Did you not read the post properly then?

No.Why not?It was from a party, and I accepted nine collaborations from that party.Now, I accept, as a leader of a political party, I have a responsibility for what I post.To give you an example, if I go to a protest, I read every sign in the collaboration before I post it, because I don't want to have situations like this.This was actually collaborations from a party on Sunday night.

You don't generally expect a party to have things that are contentious.So I did flick through it.But I admit, I didn't pay enough attention to the t -shirt.As soon as I saw it, I was horrified.It's important to say I condemn all political violence.I condemn violent imagery.

I condemn violent metaphors.I do my best to avoid them in my day -to -day speech.So I think the idea that I would click this knowing what I was doing, I think most people just know that isn't true.This was a mistake.And I'm sure.

So let's just look at this picture then.any second now this you did not see the T -shirt with the drawing of the guillotine with the words?

It was a fifth image in 20, and so what I was seeing was people partying, flicking through.The man had a colourful hat on, like a rainbow hat.I remember seeing that and just carried on flicking through.I didn't even know this was a song lyric from XTC.Didn't read the T -shirt.That was a mistake.

I accept that.But it's an inadvertent mistake.And so I think the amount that it's been reported, particularly by press that are owned by billionaires who often attack me, I talk a lot...

Oh, come on.Come on.Any leader of a political party in this country who shares a post like that is going to have reports and stories and conversations about them.You know that.

Well, can I come back on that?So, in May, I experienced lots of threats, including today, by the way, I experienced a death threat.But in May, a Nazi who was near a reform banner threw a salute at me and was arrested.No one ever spoke about it.No one ever reported it.And it does feel this is a legitimate conversation to be having.

That's why I've come here tonight to have the conversation.

But you are also complaining about it being reported.

I'm complaining about the disproportionality of, I think Zia Yousaf said, if I wasn't arrested by this time tomorrow, then it's open season on all MPs.I think that's clearly hyperbole.

Well, let me put this to you.Nigel Farage says he has had 597 death threats since February.Reform UK's Zia Yousef said the post was incitement to murder.

So I think there's two things there, and two things can be true at the same time.It's totally unacceptable for Nigel Farage to receive a single death threat.So I condemn any incitement towards him or any violence towards him.No matter how much I disagree with his political views or anyone else, everyone in the political sphere has the right to express their views.At the same time, the idea that's incitement to murder, when it wasn't my photograph, it's not my T -shirt, I accepted a collaboration post and unaccepted it the moment I read the t -shirt.

You've also told me that you accept as a leader of a political party responsibility for what you share on social media and you have also said this was a mistake and that you didn't read it properly.Do you want to take this opportunity to apologise to Nigel Farage?

Well, if I'd done it deliberately, I'd be apologising.But because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it's a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence.And also, crucially, I make a commitment to be better on my social media.

OK.

Do you want to apologise then, or not?No.The reason for that is because Nigel Farage, when I posted this, or when the person posted it, it got less than 1 ,000 likes.Nigel Farage then took it, cropped it, so it made it look like I posted it, which I thinkwas fundamentally dishonest.It's now had 3 .2 million views.

So actually, this whole conversation has been seen more because Nigel Farage, Lee Youssef, and I think Richard Tice posted it.So I'm accepting my responsibility in that I shouldn't have accepted that collaboration.I'm accepting that we all need to condemn political violence.But I also think the reporting to the police, the ramping up of the language to say this is incitement to murder me, feels like that's also putting me in a dangerous spot.

OK, there's a number of things to unpack there.First of all, you're saying you take responsibility for it and it was a mistake, and yet you won't apologise because you're blaming Nigel Farage for amplifying it.

I think we also need to talk about a double standard.

No, no, no, no, you keep taking the conversation on.If you're accepting it's a mistake...

What you just said was correct, but I was going to add to it.

OK.

Nigel Farage put out a video that talked about cold, pure rage, and then we saw a riot.Nigel Farage talked about...

No, no, I am talking to you about what you have done, and if Nigel Farage was here, I'd be talking to him about what he had done.Right.It's a mistake, but you won't apologise.

I think if I'd done it deliberately, and this had been a misjudgment, I would actually apologise.

But when we make mistakes, whether it's intentional or not, we say sorry.I mean, that's what we do.

You know as well as I do, the moment I do that, Nigel Farage would run all over social media saying, saying he was correct about incitement to murder and this would all ramp up again and I think it's important that I draw a line and don't play his game and actually say it is important that he's kept safe, it is important we condemn political violence, but I also recognise this is the political attack that it is.

Yes, but on behalf of you, your party said last night, once this image was brought to Zak's attention, he immediately unshared the post, he unequivocally does not support this type of dangerousmessage.You're accepting it was dangerous, and yet you won't apologise.

I accept it's a dangerous message that is shared inadvertently and I've corrected that immediately.

But you won't apologise for sharing that dangerous message?

Well, as I said, again, if Nigel Farage wants to apologise for all the times that he's put other people in danger, then I'll be happy to make an apology.

So, OK, OK.It's not the first time you have shared something that afterwards you have regretted.Three months ago, you retweeted criticism of the police's handling of the Golders Green attack.You apologised after that for, quote, sharing the post in haste.I don't really understand why you haven't learned.

Well, that was a totally different situation where I did make a misjudgment, and that's why I apologised for it.It wasn't inadvertent.I read it and then re -shared it.

So there is a question about your judgement then, isn't there?One, you read it and retweeted it.One, you didn't read it and shared it anyway.

Other politicians don't use social media in the way that I do and that's because, again, they often have the press to back their arguments.I believe in being in grassroots community.I believe in being in spaces.I actually collaborated with eight people that evening.

Do you still want to be Prime Minister?Do you still want to be in power?

I want to make sure that as a Green government, whether I'm Prime Minister in the future or not, I want to keep making sure.

Okay, thank you for clarifying that because these mistakes involving social media could be described as careless at best, dangerous at worst.You would forgive voters surely then for potentially thinking you might be careless or dangerous with their lives or their safety or their money if you were in power.Fair?

I have a job to do to make sure that I build trust.Is that fair?Yes.

Right, so voters would be forgiven for thinking that because of these kind of mistakes and you're saying yeah that's fair, they've got a right to think that.

And it's my job to make sure that I build trust, that I demonstrate through my actions and through my vote.that I have people's values and that they're best addressed at heart.I think lots of people watching this will recognise that people make mistakes and people make inadvertent mistakes.I'm particularly in a position where that mistake means you end up on live TV talking about it, and I accept that because I have a position of responsibility.I also think no matter how much responsibility you have, whether you're a leader of a political party or a prime minister, you make mistakes.The point is, what do you do about that mistake?

How do you learn and how do you move on from it?

OK, well, you made a mistake three months ago and don't seem to have learned from it.You've made a second mistake and won't apologise for it.

I think they're different mistakes.The first mistake with the Golders Green attack was that I shared it in haste and I should have gone to the Met Commissioner.That's why I apologised.This time I've inadvertently accepted something and as soon as I realised corrected it.They are different things.

Since that Golders Green repost, according to YouGov, your own approval ratings have dropped significantly and haven't gone back to the levels seen in February and March, let alone the ratings you had, say, last December.At the same time, Labour under Andy Burnham seem to be taking support away from the Greens.Are you worried now that the Greens, under your leadership, may have peaked?

Well, I think Andy Burnham has identified a lot of the problems I was talking about earlier in the year, about living in rip -off Britain, the fact that we have this toxic combination of high bills and low wages.I think the problem for Andy Burnham, and where I plan to step up, is that his solutions aren't going to fix things.For instance, he's ruled out rent controls.If we brought in rent controls, we could save the average UK household up to £2 ,400 a year.and save government £2 billion a year.

So you don't accept that you and the way you behave might be damaging the Greens?

I meet people all the time who actually say, in fact a journalist interviewed me on Saturday and said she thinks I'm rough around the edges and that's why people are attracted to the work that I'm doing, that I do make mistakes and that I own when I make a mistake and that's justworking really hard and people can see that I'm doing it honestly, authentically and that I'm not focus grouping, I'm not kind of run by some kind of corporate company, I'm listening every day to what I can do to make this country better and working as hard as I can in the face of incredibly hostile press.

Can I ask you about social care finally, if I may?Because we've learned in the last few minutes, at half ten this came out, the Prime Minister has issued an invitation to Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey for tomorrow.to begin, Andy Burnham says, a conversation about how to reform social care.Do you think you should have been invited to that?

I mean, that's a case for the Prime Minister.Actually, I think it's positive he's inviting opposition leaders at all.Do you think you should be there?I mean, I would like to be there.Of course, I would.And I'd encourage the Prime Minister to extend that invitation.

I think the point here, though, is not politicians' personal egos.The point is adult social care is a ticking time bomb.It makes no sense.that if someone is ill with cancer they get free health care as they should but if they have dementia they don't and actually what we really really need to do is get a grip of this.I think one of the biggest things we need to do is stop the outsourcing of private profit.In the last three years in three regions of the UK because of the outsourcing of social care private providers have made up to 240 million pounds.

That money should actually be in the NHS and making sure we're funding adult social care properly.

Finally, have you paid that council tax yet?

No, the council still don't know if I owe council tax or not.Obviously, I want to pay it as soon as I can, if I have to pay anything.

Before I move and talk to our panel, I'm going to give you one more opportunity, if you want to take it, to apologise to Nigel Farage.

Well, as I said, I believe in authenticity and I don't think I've done anything wrong here.I've made a mistake, but it wasn't a purposeful mistake.It would be very easy to apologise, but actually I think it would be false.If nothing else, I'm always going to stand by my convictions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for having me.