Ex-Green leader Caroline Lucas slammed Zack Polanski for letting the ‘Zionism is racism’ motion go through at party conference. She told Newsnight:
“He should have been there and he should have voted… I would have hoped he would have been a very strong critic of this motion. The motion was flawed from top to bottom – in my view it is dangerous, it is divisive… I think let’s just see what happens in the coming days and weeks. Obviously he has been completely taken up with this by-election.”
For his part Polanski has now finally said he would have voted against it. He told BBC Breakfast:
“There’s parts [of the motion] I disagree with and parts I agree with… the part I disagree with is the Green Party of England and Wales or indeed even the British government deciding that there should be a single state. I think that’s up to the Israelis and the Palestinians. In terms of the actual substantial part of the motion… the displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people is clearly underpinned by a racist ideology. I think that’s obvious… The motion as amended, I would have voted for. The motion unamended, I wouldn’t have voted for.”
None of this is going well for Zack…
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”