The leader of the Green Party of England and Wales has issued a stark call for the United Kingdom to sever its core military dependencies on the United States, should former President Donald Trump follow through on threats to acquire Greenland. Zack Polanski argues that the UK must prepare to become a truly independent military power.
A Radical Proposal for Military Independence
Writing in the New Statesman, Polanski, a long-standing critic of the UK's membership in NATO, labelled Britain a "poodle" of the United States. He proposed a series of drastic measures to break this reliance. The first step would be to examine the closure of roughly 13 American military bases on UK soil and the expulsion of approximately 10,000 US personnel who have been stationed here since the Cold War era.
Furthermore, Polanski demanded an immediate pause to the multi-billion-pound renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system. He called for a parliamentary debate on whether the UK should continue with a weapons system that sources its atomic warheads from US stockpiles, despite maintaining operational independence.
High-Stakes Consequences of Disarmament
Such a move would carry profound implications for national and economic security. Abandoning Trident would leave the UK without a continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued threats linked to British support for Ukraine.
The economic fallout would also be severe, putting thousands of specialised jobs at risk in UK shipyards where the new Vanguard Class submarines are being constructed. Polanski acknowledged the billions already spent but warned against a "sunk-cost fallacy," insisting the debate is urgent.
Re-aligning UK Foreign Policy
Polanski, who describes himself as an 'eco-populist' and took leadership of the Greens in September, framed his argument within a broader foreign policy vision. He stated that leaving the European Union had weakened Britain and fostered an over-reliance on the "toxic so-called 'special relationship'" with Washington.
He advocates for closer ties with Europe and working within NATO to prioritise peacebuilding over militarism. However, he has previously expressed a desire for the Green Party to drop its support for NATO membership, calling the alliance's age "fully over" under a Trump presidency he considers unreliable.
"If Trump were to take military action against Greenland, we need to be able to act fast to peacefully and quickly remove America’s military presence from our country," Polanski concluded, outlining a contingency plan for a dramatic geopolitical rupture.
