Reform UK have accused the Metropolitan Police of allowing Green Party leader Zack Polanski to get away with “inciting murder” after the force cleared him over a social media post featuring a guillotine and the word ‘Nigel’. The party described the decision as evidence of “two tier Britain”.
Police Decision
Britain’s biggest police force announced it would not take action after the eco-socialist politician shared an image on Instagram that showed a man wearing a t-shirt with a guillotine and the slogan “we’re only making plans for Nigel”. In an update released this evening, the force said it was “unlikely that the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal offence.”
Reform UK Response
A Reform UK spokesman told the Daily Express: “Once again we see that we are living in two tier Britain. Zack Polanski is allowed to get away with inciting murder whilst ordinary people up and down the country get a knock at the door making a joke online.”
Polanski’s Reaction
Last night, the Green Party leader refused to apologise for the post seven times during a BBC interview. When asked, he responded: “If I had done it deliberately, I would 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.”
The post, which Polanski has since deleted, was reported to police by Nigel Farage’s party. Speaking earlier, Farage had said: “If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski.”
Polanski previously said through a spokesman: “After attending a public event, Zack accepted a request to collaborate on a post with several images. Once this image was brought to his attention, he immediately unshared the post. He unequivocally does not support this type of dangerous message.”
At the time, Polanski stated the police had not contacted him, despite a Metropolitan Police spokesman saying the force was “conducting inquiries” and took “reports of this nature extremely seriously.”
