Reform UK accused of hypocrisy over Polanski controversy after failing to take action against deputy leader in Lancashire
This Wednesday edition draws parallels between the behaviour of the Green leader nationally and the Reform UK deputy leader in Lancashire. A comparison neither will embrace.
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Zack Polanski is in the news - and rightly so. The Instagram image he “collaborated” with on Instagram - projecting it to his significant following - that could be deemed to be calling for violence against Nigel Farage was deeply ill-advised at best.
But calls from Reform UK that Polanski be arrested have been criticised as a touch rich. When the deputy leader of Reform UK here in Lancashire behaved in the same manner - they took no action against him.
There is quite clearly a reluctance - from multiple parties - to draw a line under this sort of message and behaviour with appropriate action and that needs to change. But Reform UK are on shaky ground if they want to call foul on this topic.
Lancashire briefing
🏠 A ‘deeply unpopular’ plan for new homes on farmland near a Lancashire village, which raised over 200 objections, has been refused.
The application for 85 homes – including 25 affordable ones – at Balderstone in the Ribble Valley has been rejected by councillors, despite developers asking for extra time to look at late information sent to the council.
Ribble Valley Borough Council received 240 objections to the outline housing plan for land south of Causeway Farm at Longsight Road, Balderstone. Three parish councils also objected.
People’s fears included the impact on green space, extra traffic and the loss of individual village identities. Balderstone Parish Council said the number of houses would have a ‘profound effect’ on the area’s character. The estate would be ‘incongruous, insular and lack any integrated relationship with the villages of Mellor Brook, Osbaldeston or Mellor’.
🩺 Lancashire NHS bosses are staying tight-lipped about the likelihood of Chorley and South Ribble Hospital’s A&E department reopening 24 hours a day – after the government revealed local leaders were considering “evidence” for the move.
It emerged earlier this month that a feasibility study had been conducted into restoring a round-the-clock service at the facility, which has been operating part-time for almost a decade.
A question-and-answer session in the Commons heard that the findings were being assessed by the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Board (ICB).
However, when asked about that process, the organisation – which is responsible for commissioning health services in the region – pointed instead towards its implementation of long-term national plans to reduce the number of people requiring emergency care in the first place.
Meanwhile, campaigners who have spent the last 10 years calling for the reinstatement of a 24-hour emergency department at the Euxton Lane site have warned that it would have to be fully staffed and properly funded before it would win their backing.
🗳️ One of the top-rated GP surgeries in Burnley is set for a major overhaul that will effectively double it in size and allow it to see more patients, after receiving approval from the town’s planning committee.
Burnley Wood Medical Centre on Parliament Street can now go-ahead with building a large single storey extension on its North-facing side, allowing for four additional consultation rooms and a training area for its staff.
Alongside this, the practice’s 6900 patients will notice a revamped entrance, reception and waiting room when the work is completed, with the whole extension being built out of similar materials to the already existing structure.
But while the approved application to expand Burnley Wood Medical Centre, was approved at committee, the improvements were not uncontroversial.
Five objections from nearby residents and ward Cllr Jeff Sumner (Reform UK) were submitted in response to the application, raising concerns about a loss of privacy, the extension’s ‘overbearing impact’ on nearby homes, and its consequent increased demand for parking.
Reform UK accused of hypocrisy over Polanski controversy after failing to take action against deputy leader in Lancashire
By Luke Beardsworth
A senior Green politician in Lancashire has accused Reform UK of hypocrisy for the way it has handled the controversy surrounding Zack Polanski.
The Green Party’s leader Zack Polanski is under investigation by the Met Police after sharing an image which showed a man wearing a black T-shirt with the words “we’re only making plans for Nigel”, alongside a photograph of a guillotine, in clear reference to Nigel Farage.
Farage was quick to respond and said: “If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski.”
And Zia Yusuf, Reform UK donor and spokesperson for home affairs, said it was ‘inciting murder’.
The Met Police has said that it is investigating the matter. The Green Party said the post, shared as a collaboration post on Instagram, was deleted when Polanski became aware of it.
Cllr Gabie Lowe, 24 and leader of the Green Party at Preston City Council, said that Polanski was right to delete the post but accused Reform UK of hypocrisy.
This is because when Reform UK’s deputy leader at Lancashire County Council, Cllr Simon Evans, shared a post calling for Labour MP Natalie Fleet to be shot, the party called it an ‘honest mistake’.
Cllr Lowe told The Lancashire Lead: “Accepting the tag request was very ill judged, and I believe that Zack was right to delete it and apologise. It is so important that we are all careful over what we post online, especially given recent events.
“There is, however, a blatant hypocrisy in the way the right wing are reacting to this. When they can hail Lucy Connolly as a hero of free speech, and when the Reform UK deputy leader of Lancashire County Council can face no consequences for sharing a post which called for a Labour politician to be shot, their reaction seems disproportionate.”
It is worth noting that Polanski’s comment came directly from the Green Party spokesperson rather than Polanski himself.
Reform UK took no action locally or nationally over the posts from Cllr Simon Evans, although The Lancashire Lead understands he was given formal advice by Lancashire Constabulary.
He posted an apology to his Facebook account when the incident occurred in February, but it has since been deleted.
For Reform UK local councillors, the difference between the two incidents is in the profile of the politicians involved and how recent the murder of Ann Widdecombe is.
