The Green party<\/a> leader has since apologised after being publicly criticised by the head of the Metropolitan Police, who said his actions undermined the confidence of officers to deal with dangerous people.<\/p>\n Speaking to Sky News this morning, Alexander said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI thought it was disgusting what he did and absolutely abhorrent. Those police officers ran towards danger, they were armed only with a Taser that they had already discharged. The guy still had a knife in his hand. They were armed with their courage and their training.<\/p>\n And I think for the leader of a political party to jump onto Twitter, start retweeting content criticising those policemen who responded with incredible bravery in what was a very difficult situation. I think it demonstrates that the man is not fit to lead a political party.<\/p>\n Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with attempted murder after two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday in Golders Green, north London. He is also charged with attempted murder over an earlier attack that day on a man during a personal dispute in south London. On Thursday, the UK\u2019s terror threat level was raised to severe.<\/p>\n Following the attack, the government announced it was making more money available for protecting Jewish communities and promised to increase powers to target antisemitic preachers but the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has been accused of not doing enough following a string of antisemitic attacks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.30 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Here are some other key takeaways from the Zack Polanski<\/a> interview on Sky News:<\/p>\n Polanski said Jewish safety does not improve by \u201cescalating tensions\u201d.<\/p>\n He recognised there is real unsafety towards Jewish people, revealing that in the last six weeks \u201ctwo people have actually been arrested in relation to antisemitic actions towards me\u201d.<\/p>\n Polanski said even if some pro-Palestinian marches make some Jewish people feel unsafe, that doesn\u2019t mean those demonstrations \u201cactually\u201d make them unsafe.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is about having a conversation about how do we ensure that Jewish people are safe and Jewish people feel safe at times when they may perceive themselves as being unsafe,\u201d Polanski told Trevor Phillips.<\/p>\n Polanski said people\u2019s freedom of speech and ability to march in opposition to Israel\u2019s genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza (and to end Israeli occupation) should be allowed to continue.<\/p>\n He said that whenever there are anti-semitic crimes committed they should be dealt with by existing laws.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.00 EDT<\/p>\n Both the Golders Green attack and video of the police response were ‘traumatic’, Polanski says<\/p>\n Trevor Phillips has asked Green party leader Zack Polanski<\/a> \u201cwhat on earth was going through your head\u201d when sharing a social media post condemning the actions of police officers who arrested the suspect in the Golders Green attack.<\/p>\n Polanski, recognising the \u201cbravery\u201d of police officers who run towards dangerous incidents, said he apologised for his retweet because X was not an \u201cappropriate forum\u201d to make those comments (see post at 09.27<\/a> for more details). He told Sky News:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe first thing I did was recognise that this was a horrific crime and I showed solidarity to the victims and their families.<\/p>\n I then thanked the emergency responders for the brave work they did. I found it all very traumatic, especially as a Jewish person.<\/p>\n And I also found the video that was circulating online traumatic too. I accept though that conversation about that video needs to be had with the commissioner rather than on X.<\/p>\n In an unusually public intervention, the Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, shared a letter<\/a> to Polanski on X last Thursday, criticising the post the Green party leader retweeted as \u201cinaccurate and misinformed commentary\u201d. He said the responding police officers were \u201cnothing short of extraordinary\u201d and that \u201cwithout their efforts to stop him (the suspect) I dread to think what the outcome could have been.\u201d<\/p>\n Rowley\u2019s impartiality has been called into question after being accused of wading into the political arena at a particularly sensitive time ahead of elections next week, including for councils in London.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.34 EDT<\/p>\n PM shouldn’t have to ‘reapply for his job’, minister says, as she insists Starmer is ‘best’ person to lead the country<\/p>\n Amid growing speculation about potential Labour<\/a> leadership challenges being triggered by the expected disastrous local election results, the transport secretary insisted that \u201cthe best person to lead our country\u201d was Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n Those demanding a leadership battle should \u201cgive their head a gentle wobble\u201d, Heidi Alexander told Sky News. She explained:<\/p>\n double quotation markSo I think here is the best person to lead our country through the period of extreme international volatility that we are experiencing at the moment.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think the public would thank us if the Labour Party turned into some sort of self indulgent debating society when there are pockets of the world that feel like they are going to hell in a handcart at the moment.<\/p>\n I think asking the prime minister to somehow reapply for his job when all of that is going on and he is entirely focused on the concerns of the British people would be the wrong thing to do\u2026<\/p>\n I think those people who think that we should have a leadership election now and repeat the mistakes that the Conservative government made in churning through prime ministers probably do need to give their head a gentle wobble.<\/p>\n MPs have shifted discussions from speculating about whether the prime minister could be removed to how \u2013 including timelines, potential triggers and the mechanics of forcing a leadership contest, my colleagues report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Keir Starmer is deeply unpopular with the British public but has said he is determined to lead Labour into the next general election. Photograph: Jack Taylor\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n In his interview, Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips also asked the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, about Keir Starmer signalling that he might want to ban repeated pro-Palestinian marches and asked her if the chants of \u201cglobalise the intifida\u201d or \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d will be made illegal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have actually changed the law this week to give the police more powers to deal with protests,\u201d Alexander said, adding that the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has instructed Lord Ken Macdonald, to do a review of protests, which will be reported back to her. She would not be drawn into saying whether the law should be changed to specifically make chanting \u201cglobalise the intifada\u201d at marches illegal.<\/p>\n Earlier in the week, Starmer called for police to prosecute people chanting \u201cglobalise the intifada\u201d during demonstrations, despite criticism that by doing so would be an infringement on freedom of speech.<\/p>\n Intifada is an Arabic word that translates to uprising or \u201cshaking off\u201d. As my colleague notes in this story,<\/a> many people use the phrase as an expression of solidarity with Palestinian people resisting Israeli occupation while some Jewish groups and leaders have described it as a call to violence.<\/p>\n The phrase \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free\u201d refers to the land between the Jordan river, which borders eastern Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Critics say the chant is a call for the destruction of the state of Israel but others say it refers to the right of all Palestinians to freedom and justice in their homeland as equal citizens.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, which, according to health officials, has killed at least 72,610 people, has been classified as a genocide by human rights groups and scholars. It was launched following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.29 EDT<\/p>\n Polanski’s ‘abhorrent’ response to Golders Green attack shows he is unfit to ‘lead a political party’, minister says<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has said Zack Polanski\u2019s retweeting of a post suggesting the police used excessive force when they arrested the suspect in the Golders Green attack last week was \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201cabsolutely abhorrent\u201d as she claimed he was not \u201cfit to lead a political party\u201d.<\/p>\n Polanski retweeted<\/a>, without comment, a post on X alleging that officers were \u201crepeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head\u201d when he was already incapacitated by a stun gun.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3519.jpg\")
The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, called Zack Polanski\u2019s reaction to the Golders Green attack \u201cabhorrent\u201d. Photograph: Thomas Krych\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n