Zack Polanski tells voters there is no ‘time to wait around’ for Corbyn party
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has urged left-leaning voters to back his party, saying there is no “time to wait around” for a new party from Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana.
Mr Corbyn, the former Labour leader, and Ms Sultana have signalled plans to launch a new left-wing political movement but have not yet formally set it up.
Justice
Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News on Sunday, Mr Polanski said: “I like Jeremy Corbyn, I like Zara Sultana.
“A lot of our politics is similar and I share lots of platforms with them.
“Jeremy said it himself the other day – we are different people.
“Whatever they are going to set up does not exist yet.
“I don’t think we have time to wait around.
“I would say to anyone who wants to have social, environmental, racial and economic justice – join the Green Party right now.”
Finances
The new Green leader also defended his party’s manifesto proposals, rejecting claims they would blow a £170 billion hole in the public finances.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned the Greens’ pledges would require tax rises on that scale each year.
But Mr Polanski said: “I reject this talk of holes. The household budget is nothing like a national economy.
“Politicians from the Labour and Conservative Party have pushed these narratives of austerity.
“We can’t come at this conversation just about the economy – it has to be about our mental health, our wellbeing and physical health of the nation.
“The era of trickle-down economics was always a lie. We’re still paying interest to private banks that we don’t need to pay.”
He said the Greens would introduce new wealth taxes, including a 1% levy on assets worth £10 million or more and 2% on assets worth over £1 billion.
“If you’re about to say ‘won’t they just leave’ – assets can’t just pick up and leave,” Mr Polanski said.
“The Duke of Westminster owns half of Mayfair – we need to make sure we have a fair taxation system in this country.”
Asked whether major tax rises on the wealthy would appeal to former Conservative voters who helped elect Green MPs last year, Mr Polanski said: “What appeals to most people is tackling inequality – whether you live in the city, or whether you live in the countryside where we have rural constituency MPs.
“If you’re a farmer – 80% of subsidies go to the wealthiest 20% of landowners.
“We need to have a conversation in this country about food security and making sure we’re protecting the people who are vital to our biodiversity and protecting nature.”
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It’s always good to see new young faces enter the political arena, but politics is a long hard slog with reality and competing forces, something Jeremy Corbyn was unable to deal with. Great campaigners who appeal to a sense of justice and fairness, yet seem blind to the powers ranged against them.
Zack Polanski is right to reject the austerian nostrums of the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Like the UK Government and the Bank of England (but, see below*), not to mention the right-wing media, they pretend ignorance of how money really works. Even the Guardian gives little space to this topic, evidently lacking any real understanding and/or not having the capability to report on it. The IFS and the rest prefer a cutdown version that omits the government’s key roles in creating money (subject to a budget approved by parliament). It commits government to borrowing and tight monetary policies, completely unnecessarily… Read more »
I would add that the private sector has never admitted or understood how they are supported by the public sector. The slow collapse of public services directly impacted their employees and productivity.
You might have more luck with this if money printing was limited to investment spending because that will generate growth to offset inflation concerns.
It’s the suggestion there’s no limit or downside to money printing that stops people taking it seriously. Because why not just print enough for everyone to stay at home watching Netflix.
Zack Polanski… I don’t know. He says all the right things, but as a Lib Dem defector he’ll know all about changing his beliefs at the drop of a hat. Also it’s not so long since he was grifting a living from hypnotising women into having bigger breasts.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/zack-polanski-deputy-green-party-hypnotherapy-womens-breasts-5HjcmXc_2/
Given how rubbish all the other options are I’d really like to believe that he’s decent, but the odds are that he’s just another con-man looking for an easy way to power, influence and money.
Thanks, Felicity. Yes, and cannot you see how the private sector, no longer crowded out by gummint, has expanded and contributed so much to renewing our society. So civic spirited, the evidence is everywhere! Borrow my rose-tinted spectacles if you need to… Thanks too for your comment, Bram. ‘Money printing’ (ie. electronic) is already utilised to invest in schools and hospitals (though not enough) and increasingly it seems, in armaments (huzzah!) – the private sector doesn’t invest because it is risk averse. High income and net wealth people don’t either – they save (because they can!), creating dead money. And… Read more »