Can Zack Polanski actually be arrested for Farage guillotine image?

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The Green Party leader said he made an “inadvertent mistake” in sharing the image, which has now been taken down, and "does not support this type of dangerous message".

Reform has called for Mr Polanski to be arrested, with its home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, saying the post was "inciting murder".

The incident comes on the back of Joshua Kerry being charged with murdering Reform spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe - the former Conservative MP who died at her home in Devon.

Mr Farage quoted a screenshot of the image and tweeted: "This is what Zack Polanski has just posted on his Instagram. If I was to post anything as inciteful, then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski."

But can the police actually arrest someone over a message shared on social media and what have they said?

Read also: Police spent weeks trying to track down Richard Hammond after driving offences

Can Zack Polanski actually be arrested for Farage guillotine tweet?

What does the law say?

According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), "baiting online which involves sending abusive and hurtful comments," would be considered "trolling" under the Malicious Communication Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003.

"Online threats could take many forms including threats to kill, harm or to commit an offence against a person, group of people or organisation," it said.

In further advice, the CPS said that prosecutors should make an initial assessment of the content of the communications and the conduct in question to distinguish between those which:

• Are a credible threat (violence to the person or damage to property);
• Specifically target an individual or individuals and which may constitute harassment or stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, non-consensual intimate image abuse,
• Are breaches of court orders or a statutory provision; and
• Are grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false

What has the police done?

Reform UK reported Mr Polanski to the police over the post.

On Monday evening, the Met tweeted: "Earlier today - Monday, 27 July - we received a third-party report relating to an image shared on social media.

"We take reports of this nature extremely seriously, and officers are conducting enquiries into the matter."

The tweet was no longer on the police's page as of midday on Wednesday, and the Met has not since commented.

A Green Party spokesperson said: "After attending a public event, Zack accepted a request to collaborate on a post with several images.

"Once this image was brought to his attention, he immediately unshared the post. He unequivocally does not support this type of dangerous message."

"Making Plans for Nigel" is a 1979 song from English rock band XTC, which is what one user commenting on the post suggested it was in reference to.