Polanski’s leadership reveals the limits of the Green Party’s politics

Credit where it’s due: Polanski won an overwhelming victory, and I am happy to congratulate him.

The Labour Party – and government – will always work constructively with other political parties on issues in the national interest.

But in choosing Polanski, the Green Party has elected a leader who is keen to learn from the angry politics of Nigel Farage. He previously argued the Reform leader “tells a really powerful story” – but has failed to explain which part of Farage’s story he admires so much.

That Polanski wants to take a leaf from the Farage playbook – the man who last week announced a deeply unworkable and hole-strewn policy on illegal migration – should be cause for concern, for all of us.

There is no doubting Polanski knows how to reach for the microphone or loud-hailer. But we must not ignore what he’s actually saying and the consequences of his positions.

Take his recent comments on NATO as an example. The “age of NATO is now fully over”, he said, suggesting the UK should leave and calling attempts to reform the organisation “an idea that’s on its last legs”.

In general, there has been broad cross-party support for Ukraine since Putin’s illegal invasion. At a time when the UK is proudly leading efforts against Putin’s Russia, Polanski’s pledge looks like a tacit decision to empower Russia and leave Ukraine exposed.

We live in serious times – an era where past assurances of peace in Europe have been put in doubt, where Russia wages an illegal war in Ukraine, and when hostile forces committed to destroying European sovereignty mass at the borders of NATO states.

Polanski’s pledge is not serious politics, and it’s dangerous.

We rightly expect responsible and measured responses from our political leaders, and so he must level with the British people and explain whether exiting NATO is now official Green policy, and what it means for his Party’s stance on Putin’s appalling illegal war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, our Labour Government’s commitment to Ukraine and NATO is, and always will be, unshakeable and unwavering.

But this isn’t a “one-off” dodgy policy. Before the last election, the Green Party caused outrage by criticising life-saving medical interventions for women in childbirth, stating that “we will work to reduce the number of interventions” and expressing particular concern about the “rate of caesarean sections, which are expensive and, when not medically required, risky”.

Challenged on this, Polanski argued “it’s not that we have changed our minds”. He must be clear on whether this anti C-section approach remains Party policy.

The overwhelming majority of the public knows that these kinds of myths about C-Sections are tone deaf, outdated, and downright dangerous.

The NHS has seen serious failings in maternity care in recent years. The Health Secretary has ordered a rapid national investigation, but we are clear that maternity care is the litmus test by which this government should be judged on patient safety.

The Greens’ dreadful policy shows that, for all of Polanski’s spin, the Greens are still a Party incapable of serving the interests of the British people.

His international and domestic policies aren’t all that’s startling about Polanski’s positions. During his previous career as a hypnotherapist, Polanski told a journalist he believed he could increase the size of her breasts through hypnosis alone.

Despite attempts to disavow the so-called “treatment, Polanski told the reporter that he could “see it becoming popular very quickly, because it’s so safe and a lot cheaper than a boob job”.

The public will have to make up their own mind about whether that’s an appropriate thing for a Party leader to say – but it undoubtedly raises serious questions about his judgement.

Polanski and the Green Party don’t have the answers to the challenges facing this country.

Equivocating on NATO, dangerous pledges that threaten the health and well-being of women, and a desire to mirror Nigel Farage. This won’t deliver the national renewal the country wants and needs.

Compare this to Labour’s efforts to make Britain a clean energy superpower, our approval of new solar farms, our pledge to stop granting new licenses for offshore and gas, and the creation of Great British Energy.

Only Labour in Government is delivering change: with record investment in the NHS to help deliver over 7 million more appointments and cut waiting lists, raising the minimum wage to give a pay rise to millions, lifting the Tory ban on onshore wind and investing in clean energy, banning no-fault evictions and giving renters security and stability.

This is all only possible as a result of bold, progressive choices from a Labour Government in power. And we’re just getting started.

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Karin Smyth is MP for Bristol South and Health Minister.

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