The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, has said he made an “inadvertent mistake” by sharing an Instagram post of a man wearing a T-shirt featuring an image of a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel”, but he repeatedly said he would not apologise to Nigel Farage.
Polanski told the BBC’s Newsnight programme he had accepted a request to collaborate with a photographer on Instagram, with the first photo in a set of 20 showing himself, and the fifth showing the T-shirt.
The image was later removed from Polanski’s feed, with the Greens saying the T-shirt was “clearly in poor taste”. Polanski told Newsnight: “As soon as I was aware of what happened, I unaccepted it and took it down.”
He repeatedly ruled out apologising to Farage. “If I’d done it deliberately, I’d be apologising,” he said. “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 make a commitment to be better on my social media.”
Reform UK has reported Polanski to the Metropolitan police. Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, accused Polanski of “inciting murder”, and Farage has called for Polanski to be arrested.
The Met said it was “conducting inquiries” and took “reports of this nature extremely seriously”.
Criticising Farage’s messaging, Polanski said: “If Nigel Farage wants to apologise for all the times that he’s put other people in danger than I’ll be happy to make an apology.”
Writing in the Daily Mail, Farage said Polanski must “face the consequences of his appalling decisions”, adding: “Political violence is real, it is serious, it needs dealing with.”
Polanski stressed on Newsnight: “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.”
A Reform UK source told BBC Newsnight: “It’s truly astonishing and quite frankly sickening that Zack Polanski won’t apologise for inciting murder. He admits it was wrong. He admits it’s dangerous, but he still refuses to apologise. Mr Polanski is not fit to lead a national political party.”
The work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, when asked about the controversy, said all politicians had “a duty to be careful about what they post”. He said people could make mistakes and it was for the police to decide if any action was needed. “It’s not the first time Zack Polanski has done something like this,” McFadden added.
In May, Polanski apologised for sharing a post on X critical of police after the Golders Green stabbings. Police were filmed detaining a suspect after two Jewish people were stabbed in the north-west London suburb. Footage of the arrest shared on social media showed two officers appearing to kick the man on or near his head.
Polanski retweeted, without comment, a post on X alleging that officers were “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” when he was already incapacitated by a stun gun.
When challenged on Newsnight over why he chose to appear on television to highlight his mistake but not apologise, Polanski replied: “They’re different mistakes. This time I’ve inadvertently accepted something and as soon as I’ve realised I’ve corrected it. They’re different things.”
One national opinion poll this week showed the Greens’ score falling by three percentage points, while a second showed the party holding at 13%, well above the level before Polanski became leader last September.
