Labour to release 'dossier of disturbing views' from Green local elections candidates
Green candidates have been accused of “a raft of harrowing antisemitism, dangerous conspiracy theories and appalling comments supporting Hamas and Russia”.
Labour is set to release a document which they say exposes 25 Green Party local election candidates for having “disturbing views”, including antisemitism.
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The candidates have been accused of “a raft of harrowing antisemitism, dangerous conspiracy theories and appalling comments supporting Hamas and Russia”.
Two people identified have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred towards Jews, according to Labour.
There are also individuals in the document who have allegedly posted racist remarks about Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy.
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Communities Secretary Steve Reed has called on Green Party leader Zack Polanski to rid his party of these “toxic” views.
Mr Reed said: “This isn’t one or two bad apples. This is serial hatred from candidates handpicked by Zack Polanski and the Green Party to represent them at the ballot box.
“Voters deserve to have councillors who respect them no matter their background and who stand up for and protect all communities.
“It is clear that neither applies when it comes to Polanski’s Green Party.
“Polanski can’t stay silent on these abhorrent candidates. He needs to take action against them, withdraw his support and boot them out of the party.”
According to Labour, two of the candidates stood down before the election, but of those two, one remains on the London Green Party’s Executive Committee and the other has been campaigning for the Greens.
Labour added that another candidate named in the dossier says they have been suspended.
Responding to the allegations, a Green Party spokesperson told LBC: "We are standing over 4500 candidates in these local elections, the vast majority of whom we are proud to have represent us.
"Where there are examples brought to our attention that do not align with the values of the Green Party, we are looking into them, and in some cases candidates have already been suspended.
"We are investing in strengthening our vetting procedures to prevent inappropriate candidates slipping through the net."
The troubling allegations come after a bruising week for the Greens.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that leader Zack Polanski's approval rating has slumped following his reaction to the police response to the Golders Green attack, according to a new poll.
Mr Polanski apologised after sparking controversy for sharing a social media post condemning the officers who arrested the terror suspect following Wednesday's attack.
Since then, his approval rating has fallen 14 points, a survey by pollster More in Common has suggested.
Having had an overall rating of -13%, just above Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and behind Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dem chief Sir Ed Davey, Polanski’s rating has now hit -27%.