Zack Polanski falsely claimed to be British Red Cross spokesperson, charity says | Green party
Zack Polanski falsely claimed to be a spokesman for the British Red Cross while campaigning for the Green Party leadership, the charity said.
The claim was also made on his personal website in 2020, where he said he was “really proud of the work we did.”
The British Red Cross told the Times that Polanski was “not a spokesperson” for the charity and said the issue had been escalated to the Greens.
Polanski has released several examples of X hosting fundraisers for the organization. “I have always admired the work of the British Red Cross, from their work supporting refugees to their work supporting people in Gaza and conflict zones around the world,” he wrote.
A Green Party spokesman did not directly address the allegations but said the Times should apologize for what they described as an exaggerated big-nosed anti-Semitic caricature of Polanski in the paper over the weekend.
“Instead of apologizing, the same newspaper that published a deeply offensive anti-Semitic caricature of Zack Polanski is devoting its columns to the actual stories,” they added.
The Times report also claimed that Polanski is not a full member of the National Hypnotherapy Council.
Polanski’s time as a hypnotherapist came under the spotlight after he was featured in an article in the Sun in 2013 in which he offered hypnosis aimed at increasing the size of a woman’s breasts before entering politics.
He apologized repeatedly for the incident but said it was not a service he routinely provided and was merely agreeing to what the Sun journalist asked.
The BBC later revealed an interview Polanski gave six days after the Sun report; Polanski talked to the journalist about a “successful project” to change the size of her breasts, stating that she had tried this technique with other people.
The Green Party is hoping to make significant gains on Thursday, particularly in London, with disillusioned Labor voters drawn to Polanski’s leadership.
However, the campaign saw the party embroiled in many controversies, including anti-Semitic comments made by many candidates. Sabine Mairey and Saiqa Ali, two Green candidates for Lambeth council in south London, have been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred online.
On Tuesday, former Greens leader Caroline Lucas called on the party to take immediate action against candidates who make anti-Semitic comments or posts.
“The statements surfaced by a handful of @TheGreenParty candidates are completely unacceptable and require immediate action,” he said. wrote to x. “There is no place for antisemitism or hate speech in the party. This is a society-wide problem and needs to be eradicated wherever it is found.”
A Labor Party spokesman said Polanski needed to “make a public statement”, adding: “Having previously lied about his strange hypnotic past, Zack Polanski has been caught red-handed again.”
“This is not the first time the Green party leader has been dishonest with the public. He refuses to say whether council candidates were suspended for disgusting antisemitism after claiming to have acted. There are now serious questions about his boasted work and qualifications. It’s a matter of trust.”
