Zack Polanski apologises after sharing criticism of police response to Golders Green terror attack
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has apologized after coming under fire from the Metropolitan Police chief for sharing an “inaccurate” social media post criticizing the response to the Golders Green terror attack.
Keir Starmer was among politicians lining up to condemn Mr Polanski, describing his actions as “disgraceful”, saying he was “unfit to lead any political party”.
In a statement, the Green leader said: “Everyone in the leadership has a responsibility to lower the temperature at a time of such tension, and I apologize for posting a tweet in a hurry.
“Police responses to emergencies like this need to be considered later in the right forums, but I accept that social media is not the appropriate channel to do this.”
He also said in a letter to the Green leader on Thursday night that he had invited Met chairman Sir Mark Rowley to a meeting to discuss the police response and the “wider issues” raised.
Mr Polanski faced a backlash from across the political spectrum and even within his own party after sharing a post criticizing the arrest of the Golders Green attack suspect, which Sir Mark described as “wrong and misguided”.
Mr Polanski retweeted an
In a rare intervention, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark lashed out at Mr Polanski for sharing the post and later accused him of “undermining” the force.
Earlier on Friday, former home secretary Grant Shapps said: Independent He said Mr Polanski should apologize for what he called a “shameful intervention”.
The Green Party’s leader in Wales, Anthony Slaughter, also criticized Mr Polanski during a debate ahead of the upcoming Senedd election. LBC.
While Mr Slaughter said he had not seen post
Rachel Millward, the deputy leader of the party who was challenged for her position, told the BBC’s Question Time program that she was “extremely grateful” for the emergency services response.
“I’m sure it was beyond terrifying and these people are brave, they’re well-trained in what they do, I’m sure they did a great job,” he said.
In his letter to Polanski, Sir Mark stated that he was “disappointed” by the politician’s decision to share the post and warned that it could have a “chilling effect”.
He said the officers were “nothing short of outstanding” and added: “I dread to think what the outcome might have been had it not been for their efforts to stop him.”
On Friday, Sir Mark said he was still “shaken” hours after the officers were arrested and insisted the public intervention was not political but instead an effort to prevent officers’ “trust being undermined”.
He told LBC: “I’m not interested in politics but if a respected person says or does something I think it risks undermining the confidence of my officers to take action – because they need the support of the public – they now need to intervene in this and that’s what I did in that letter.”
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir Keir said he had spoken to the officers involved.
“I’m not going to put words in their mouths, but I want everyone to imagine what it could be like,” he said. “You are trying to arrest someone who has previously attacked two people and their life is not in danger. We know that stun guns are fired. I also know from my experience with the police that a stun gun only fires two shots and once you hit them there is nothing left.
“There’s a man on the ground, he’s wearing a backpack. I don’t know what’s going through the police officers’ minds, but if I were there I would think he’s going to blow something up. He’s going to blow me up and everyone else here.”
“Under the circumstances, I think you can understand why what they had in mind was that we should do whatever we can to neutralize this man.”
He added: “Now, when I see Zack Polanski come out and retweet or support a critique of this, I think it’s a shame… He’s unfit to lead any political party.”
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