Robert Jenrick has branded Green Party leader Zack Polanski “a nasty piece of work” after Polanski shared a social media image depicting a guillotine alongside the words “we're only making plans for Nigel”. The Reform UK Treasury spokesman called on Polanski to clean up his party and apologise to Nigel Farage.
Polanski refuses to apologise over guillotine post
Polanski, the Green Party leader, posted the image on social media but quickly removed it, claiming he shared it inadvertently. When challenged by a national broadcaster, he repeatedly refused to apologise. The Metropolitan Police later cleared Polanski of any wrongdoing, a decision Reform UK labelled as “two-tier policing”.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Jenrick said it was “curious that in this case the police have chosen not to take any action”. He noted there had been “numerous examples” of people being arrested for social media posts in the past.
Jenrick calls on Polanski to resign
Asked by the Daily Express what Polanski could do to clean up the Greens, Jenrick replied: “Well, he could resign, I suppose?” Branding the Green Party leader as “a nasty piece of work”, the former minister called on Polanski to apologise to Farage. “What would a decent person do in that situation? Apologise, but he couldn't bring himself to do that,” he added.
The Greens responded by saying police “examined the evidence” and concluded no crime was committed. A spokesman added that the force's conclusion was “obvious from the start, as was the fact that Reform were always using this as a political football for their own cynical purposes to distract from questions about their own dodgy donations”.
Jenrick warns of 10% 'death tax'
During the same press conference, Jenrick warned of a 10% “death tax” to fund Prime Minister Andy Burnham's plan to fix adult social care. “We will fight a universal death tax. Not as opposition for opposition’s sake, but because it’s unfair, impractical and cruel on the people of this country,” Jenrick said. “Britain would become the single-worst place to hand down money to your kids in the Western world.”
He added: “Reform believes that money taxed when you earned it, taxed when you saved it, and taxed when you spent it should not be taxed a fourth time as you are laid to rest.”
A government spokesman responded: “There are no plans for this. Fixing our social care system will require building a broad consensus. The old way of doing politics has held up social care reform for decades. Our immediate focus is on working together to find common ground and deliver the reforms needed to fix the future of social care, not imposing one particular solution or tax.”
