Police are investigating Green Party leader Zack Polanski after Reform UK reported a social media post he shared, alleging it constitutes incitement to murder. The image featured a guillotine and text referencing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The incident highlights the heightened scrutiny and potential legal consequences for inflammatory social media content, particularly in the charged political climate of the UK.
Police are conducting inquiries into an image shared by Green Party leader Zack Polanski on Instagram after Reform UK reported it for allegedly inciting murder. The image depicted a man wearing a T-shirt with the words 'we’re only making plans for Nigel' alongside a guillotine.
Nigel Farage shared a screenshot of the image on X, stating that Polanski should be arrested if he were to post something as inciting. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police confirmed that they received a third-party report and are taking it extremely seriously, with officers conducting inquiries.
A Green party spokesperson stated that Polanski condemns the image, describing it as 'in poor taste', and that he was tagged in a post with multiple images without fully realizing the content. The spokesperson added that Polanski and the Green party call for kindness and less division in public discourse.
The image, which has since been removed from Polanski's Instagram account, was part of a carousel of images from a Green party event. Reform UK's spokesperson for home affairs, Zia Yusuf, called Polanski's post 'staggering', especially weeks after the murder of former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe.
Pick the topics you care about. Get only what matters, on your cadence.