![\"Zack](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790343854_559_4096.jpg\")
Zack Polanski said he was an anti-Zionist during a by-election hustings event at a Jewish community centre in Holborn and St Pancras. Photograph: Aldo Ciarrocchi\/Alamy<\/p>\nPolanski heckled as he declares himself an anti-Zionist at byelection hustings<\/p>\n
Morning, and welcome to our UK politics live blog.<\/p>\n
Zack Polanski declared himself an anti-Zionist and faced heckling at a Jewish community hustings in Holborn and St Pancras, where the Green party leader is standing as a candidate in next month\u2019s byelection.<\/p>\n
He said Zionism \u2013 the movement for a Jewish state \u2013 was a form of racism because it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. His remarks were met with boos from the audience last night.<\/p>\n
Zack Polanski said he was an anti-Zionist during a by-election hustings event at a Jewish community centre in Holborn and St Pancras. Photograph: Aldo Ciarrocchi\/Alamy<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m an anti-Zionist. I think countries have always been ideas and I think things change over time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Polanski, who is Jewish, said criticising the Israeli government and the occupation of Palestinian land was not antisemitic. \u201cWe need to come together to recognise that when we call that antisemitic, we are making ourselves as Jewish people less safe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
As the Green party prepares for its annual conference, members are due to vote on a motion to declare Zionism as a form of racism in official policy. As my colleague Peter Walker<\/a> reported last week, some in the party fear it could alienate Jewish supporters if it passed:<\/p>\n double quotation markA Green official said that many activists loyal to the party\u2019s leadership might not be at the autumn conference because it takes place a week before voting in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, in which Polanski hopes to take Keir Starmer\u2019s old seat<\/a> from Labour, potentially leaving more scope for others to push through the motion.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk is that if it passes as it is we are alienating ourselves from the Jewish community in the UK, a lot of whom are not big fans of the current Israeli government,\u201d a Green source said.<\/p>\n There was, they added, a parallel worry about internal splits, with some Green activists in leaked<\/a> WhatsApp chats warning that Polanski was \u201cstruggling to overcome Zionist indoctrination\u201d.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n The communications and governance director of Glasgow city council has said it was in a \u201chellish situation\u201d as he blamed Unison for a decision to force workers onto new contracts, which involves the fire and rehire 23,000 workers across the city and about 11% of staff seeing their wages cut.<\/p>\n PA Media reports Colin Edgar said \u201cIt\u2019s extremely difficult. We haven\u2019t taken this decision lightly. We absolutely do not want to do this. Two of our trade unions were together with us on a plan to not do this. One of them was not.\u201d<\/p>\n The council has been in negotiations with unions over its plans to implement a new pay and grading system after the previous one was found to discriminate mostly against female workers.<\/p>\n Trade union spokespeople have vigorously disagreed. Sylvia Haughney, Glasgow education convener at Unison, said the council\u2019s claims that it was to blame for the situation were \u201cmisleading\u201d and \u201cfalse\u201d. She said the policy of fire and rehire was \u201cutterly immoral\u201d, \u201cshockingly deplorable\u201d and that most of the staff receiving pay cuts were women.<\/p>\n Unite industrial officer Graham McNabb said: \u201cGlasgow City Council must remove direct threats to our membership in its proposed new pay and grading structure whether it is through cuts to terms and conditions, or the scandalous threat of fire and rehire tactics. If they go down this reckless path then it will be met with the full force of Unite.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Healey appoints Labour manifesto writer, fuelling election speculation Ravinder Athwal, the economist who wrote Labour\u2019s 2024 manifesto, is taking on a senior role as an adviser to John Healey<\/a>, in a move likely to fuel speculation about an early general election.<\/p>\n The chancellor is keen to beef up his team before the critical budget on 28 October, as the economy is buffeted by high oil prices<\/a> and rising government borrowing costs.<\/p>\n John Healey. A source said having Ravinder Athwal in his team will be invaluable. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz\/Future Publishing\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Healey has poached Athwal to be his senior special adviser from the business advisory group Flint Global, previously run by Andy Burnham\u2019s chief of staff, the former Blair-era cabinet minister James Purnell.<\/p>\n Athwal, a Cambridge economics graduate, was closely associated with drawing up Labour\u2019s manifesto, and devising Keir Starmer\u2019s five \u201cmissions\u201d, which were meant to shape Labour\u2019s approach to government.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.19 EDT<\/p>\n Grant Shapps, the former Conservative defence secretary, has warned government cuts to the Homes for Ukraine Scheme may \u201csend the wrong message to [Vladimir] Putin\u201d that the West is wavering in its support for Kyiv.<\/p>\n From 1 January, payments to refugee hosts will fall from \u00a3350 to \u00a3100 a month, while council funding per arrival will drop from \u00a35,900 to \u00a33,300.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat worries me about this announcement is that it might inadvertently send the wrong message to Putin and others that the west is somehow wavering, that we\u2019re losing interest, that our attention has gone elsewhere, which is the calculation that he has always wanted and tried to make, and and that would be the concern,\u201d Shapps told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today Programme.<\/p>\n Diane Taylor<\/a> has this report on how the changes will affect Ukrainian refugees in the UK, with some fearing that they could be left homeless:<\/p>\n double quotation markNataliya Rumyantseva is hosting her mother, the first Ukrainian to arrive in the UK after the war started. She said the changes were likely to have a significant impact.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen refugees arrive here from Ukraine, they are shellshocked and need time to adapt and learn the language. If hosting changes to become a more commercial rental arrangement, I think that\u2019s cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n Nataliya Rumyantseva, left, is hosting her mother, Valentyna Klymova. She said it would be \u2018cruel\u2019 if hosting changed to become a more commercial rental arrangement. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n double quotation markOne host who lives in Greenwich said he did not know if he would be able to continue hosting because of the drop in payments. \u201cI\u2019ve been a sponsor since May 2022. I was dismayed to learn that thank you payments are reducing to just \u00a3100,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI lost my job within months of becoming a sponsor and these payments have become an absolute lifeline even though I did not volunteer for this scheme for the money. I genuinely worry about the consequences of this change for Ukrainians in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Our political correspondent, Alexandra Topping<\/a>, has this profile on Sagal Abdi-Wali, the Camden council leader and Labour\u2019s candidate for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection:<\/p>\n double quotation markSagal Abdi-Wali does not want to be the prime minister. She doesn\u2019t even want to lead her party. Labour\u2019s candidate<\/a> for Holborn and St Pancras laughs and shakes her head with unusual vigour when asked if she would like to follow in the footsteps of the last member of parliament for the constituency, Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no, no, no, that\u2019s not at all, in any way, what I\u2019m trying to do,\u201d she says during a break in campaigning in the Primrose Hill cafe in Regent\u2019s Park. \u201cI\u2019m literally trying to get through the next few weeks and trying to be the member of parliament for this constituency, and that\u2019s all I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n Sagal Abdi Wali, the Labour Party candidate for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. Photograph: Antonio Olmos\/The Guardian<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s a message the 42-year-old leader of Camden council returns to with ruthless discipline ahead of a byelection on 8 October. It is plastered all over her campaigning material and brought up by every door-knocking Labour<\/a> activist \u2013 every mention an implicit comparison between herself and her high-profile opponent Zack Polanski.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I\u2019ve done, all my life, is be a committed champion for people here,\u201d says Abdi-Wali. \u201cWhether it\u2019s volunteering as a teenager or being a councillor, and all the work I did in between, that\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever done. All I want to be is someone who will be visible and local and committed every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Richard Osley, the editor of the Camden New Journal<\/a>, was at the hustings last night. Here is his take (as posted on X<\/a>):<\/p>\n double quotation markOverall tonight was another hustings where most of the audience will have known who they were going to vote before they took their seats – one of the questions from the floor was asked by a Labour councillor.<\/p>\n It was a space for attendees to make it clear to Zack Polanski how very much they disagree with him on Israel and Palestine – and how they feel offended by his views.<\/p>\n But the fact we have this unusual flip where the coverage is being shared by both his opponents AND his supporters probably means he might feel this uncomfortable evening for him wasn\u2019t a waste of time.<\/p>\n The floor of the Green Party conference next month might be a different kind of challenge.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Polanski backing amendments to tone down ‘Zionism is racism’ motion – Sky<\/p>\n Zack Polanski is reportedly backing two amendments that would tone down the \u2018Zionism is racism\u2019 motion, according to Sky News.<\/p>\n As reported<\/a> by the Guardian\u2019s senior political correspondent, Peter Walker<\/a>, the motion calls for \u201ca single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, equal rights for all, and the right of return for Palestinians and their descendants\u201d, and says the Palestinian people have the full right to \u201cresistance and liberation from Israeli occupation, domination and subjugation\u201d within international law.<\/p>\n If passed, Zionism \u201cwill be treated as any other form of racism\u201d by the party, it adds.<\/p>\n Sky News reported that the amendments, which have been selected for a vote at the Green party conference next week, \u201cpushback on the call for a single Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and add safeguards for Jewish members who are part of groups that describe themselves as Zionist\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Foreign secretary Ed Miliband told his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, that Britain will \u201cnot tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil\u201d. The comments were made during a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York, Foreign Office said. The pair discussed the war in the Middle East, the strait of Hormuz crisis and the UK\u2019s \u201cunwavering resolve to combat threats from Iranian-linked groups in UK soil\u201d, according to a readout of the meeting.<\/p>\n Foreign secretary Ed Miliband at the UN general assembly. Photograph: Angela Weiss\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Advisers in No 10 are pushing for the prime minister to call an early election as part of an attempt to keep Labour in power, according to the Telegraph. The newspaper reported senior members of Andy Burnham\u2019s team believe calling an election in spring would give the party the best chance of winning another majority.<\/p>\n Defence companies and critical infrastructure providers will be briefed on the threat posed by Russia and its proxies, including cyber attacks, sabotage and disinformation targeting organisations vital to Ukraine\u2019s defence. The government announced security minister Dan Jarvis and Armed Forces minister Louise Sandher-Jones will chair closed-door meetings with industry leaders in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Polanski heckled as he declares himself an anti-Zionist at byelection hustings<\/p>\n Morning, and welcome to our UK politics live blog.<\/p>\n Zack Polanski declared himself an anti-Zionist and faced heckling at a Jewish community hustings in Holborn and St Pancras, where the Green party leader is standing as a candidate in next month\u2019s byelection.<\/p>\n He said Zionism \u2013 the movement for a Jewish state \u2013 was a form of racism because it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. His remarks were met with boos from the audience last night.<\/p>\n Zack Polanski said he was an anti-Zionist during a by-election hustings event at a Jewish community centre in Holborn and St Pancras. Photograph: Aldo Ciarrocchi\/Alamy<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m an anti-Zionist. I think countries have always been ideas and I think things change over time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Polanski, who is Jewish, said criticising the Israeli government and the occupation of Palestinian land was not antisemitic. \u201cWe need to come together to recognise that when we call that antisemitic, we are making ourselves as Jewish people less safe,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n As the Green party prepares for its annual conference, members are due to vote on a motion to declare Zionism as a form of racism in official policy. As my colleague Peter Walker<\/a> reported last week, some in the party fear it could alienate Jewish supporters if it passed:<\/p>\n double quotation markA Green official said that many activists loyal to the party\u2019s leadership might not be at the autumn conference because it takes place a week before voting in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, in which Polanski hopes to take Keir Starmer\u2019s old seat<\/a> from Labour, potentially leaving more scope for others to push through the motion.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk is that if it passes as it is we are alienating ourselves from the Jewish community in the UK, a lot of whom are not big fans of the current Israeli government,\u201d a Green source said.<\/p>\n There was, they added, a parallel worry about internal splits, with some Green activists in leaked<\/a> WhatsApp chats warning that Polanski was \u201cstruggling to overcome Zionist indoctrination\u201d.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n![\"Heather](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Heather_Stewart,_L.png\")
Heather Stewart<\/p>\n