The BBC arranged an all-right-wing panel to challenge Green leader Zack Polanski on Question Time last night. But he schooled them all. And it was a perfect example of how to cut through establishment propaganda with clarity and compassion.
In a short time, Polanski tackled: the immense damage right-wing austerity policies have caused the UK; the need for taxing the super-rich; the importance of condemning all discrimination; and the danger of Reform’s Thatcherite and fascist propaganda.
Zack Polanski: the main issue is austerity, not immigration
Up against Reform’s Zia Yusuf, Zack Polanski asked if he thought many people only see immigration as a problem:
because you spend a lot of time spreading misinformation and fear
He noted Yusuf was right that there aren’t enough prison spaces, NHS beds, or community investment, but insisted:
The immigrants haven’t caused austerity. The same Thatcherite policies that you and your party support, and the Conservatives, are what have caused the devastation in this country.
Zack Polanski
" Zia , do you ever think it’s the number one problem because you spend a lot of time spreading misinformation and fear ? "#bbcqt #reformuk pic.twitter.com/wAfJPHZszl
— Jay (@JibbaJabb) October 9, 2025
On the topic of integration, meanwhile, Polanski clearly stated the role austerity has played in dividing communities, saying:
I think we should all be angry when we had 14 years of Conservative austerity that shut our libraries, that shut our community centres.
And he highlighted that:
there will be people who have problems with migration. But their problems are because they can’t get a dentist’s appointment, because there’s not enough council homes, because we’ve not invested in our communities. But none of these are problems of a black face. These are the problems of multi-millionaires and billionaires and the politicians who haven’t taxed them properly. We can change that. They’re all political choices.
“How do you expect people to integrate if you’ve taken away their services?”
The Green Party’s Zack Polanski says people are “angry”, blaming austerity and calling for politicians to make “different political choices” & speak in a “positive” way about migration#bbcqt pic.twitter.com/ueSbSgQAPx
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) October 9, 2025
When the Telegraph‘s Annabel Denham, who was previously a propagandist at capitalist extremist thinktank the Institute of Economic Affairs, suggested the super-rich would leave Britain if taxes increased, Polanski said there was no evidence for that. And he stressed:
The Duke of Westminster owns half of Mayfair. He can’t just pick up Mayfair and leave.
He added that, if super-rich individuals prefer to leave Britain rather than helping to invest in its education, healthcare, and communities, “we should be prouder of our country and wave them out the door”.
Former Head of Comms for the IEA, Annabel Denham, says the super rich will leave if we have a wealth tax.
Yes, the very same IEA that brought us Liz Truss’ disastrous mini budget.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski explains that their taxable assets can’t leave. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/wdVFvy9Vcr
— Eddie Burfi (@EddieBurfi) October 9, 2025
On genocide and fascism
As a Jewish person, Zack Polanski said:
I take antisemitism really seriously, in the same way that I take Islamophobia seriously. Because I recognise when they come for one minority group, they come for all of us.
He then condemned two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023. Here, of course, some on the left would say Polanski should have included the context of decades of Israeli settler-colonial crimes, its brutal blockade on Gaza, and Israel’s bombing of its own citizens on 7 October. But calling Israel’s decimation of Gaza a genocide – as most independent genocide scholars, legal experts, and humanitarian organisations do – is not something the leaders of Labour, Reform, or the Conservative Party have done. So considering the panel was overwhelmingly right-wing, an imperfect answer from Polanski was still the best by far.
On the point of Israel’s genocide, however, Tory co-chair and Israel lobby beneficiary Nigel Huddleston objected to the Greens’ clear stance in favour of Palestinian liberation. He mentioned a smear against Green co-deputy leader Mothin Ali, who had placed 7 October within the long context of Israeli abuses and criticised the racist media coverage prioritising Israeli lives over Palestinian lives. But Polanski firmly batted away Huddleston’s comments by insisting:
I think we’re hearing a rattled political attack here. Because as a Jewish man, I feel the genocide very, very deeply. Imagine what it must be like to be a Muslim man and to see who could be your family and your relatives… I want everyone to treat politics with sensitivity, with nuance, to bring kindness and compassion.
Yusuf then asked if Polanski would extend that to him and not call him a fascist. Polanski answered quite simply:
But you absolutely are a fascist. You’re from a far-right party.
He then gave reasons for his comment, including Reform’s policies and leader Nigel Farage’s past comments and alliances.
Zack Polanski, “I’m Jewish, and the reason why that’s relevant is because I’m one of five Jewish people to lead a political party in the last 100 years”
“So I take antisemitism really seriously”
“In the same way, I take Islamophobia really seriously”
"Because I recognise when… pic.twitter.com/c95YhwQhHA
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) October 9, 2025
In politics, as in life, no one is perfect. But the clarity and compassion Zack Polanski spoke with on Question Time was refreshing. And if more people on the left could deal with establishment propaganda with such skill, Britain would be a much better place.
Featured image via the Canary
By Ed Sykes
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