Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party, has called on the government to tear up the UK-Israel trade agreement in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanon, and to impose robust sanctions on Israel.
Speaking at the launch of the Green party's local election campaign in London, Polanski said it was "outrageous" that Israel still enjoyed diplomatic and trade privileges from the international community. He also urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ban the United States from using UK airspace, accusing Israel of "behaving in a completely uncontrolled way".
Polanski said the prime minister's insistence that the UK was "not involved" in the conflict with Iran was not "entirely truthful", because UK bases had been used to aid US bombers attacking Iran. "What we need to do is disentangle the UK military and the US military, ban the US from using our airspaces," he said. Asked about the economic cost of ending the trade deal, he said the UK should not put "a cost on people's lives".
Turning to housing, Polanski criticised Labour's record, saying Green-run councils would focus on building new council houses and "stand up" to property developers resisting affordable homes. Labour responded by accusing Green councillors of trying to block 42,000 homes across the country since 2018, with Housing Secretary Steve Reed saying: "There is nothing progressive about keeping London families in temporary accommodation."
Polanski also backed rent controls, after Green party Hackney mayoral candidate Zoë Garbett said she would push London mayor Sadiq Khan to impose them. He said it was not "some radical, wild policy", noting that the government had spent over £70bn on welfare in the past five years, which he said had gone into the pockets of private landlords rather than building social or council homes that could be rent-capped.
