𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Green Party leader Zack Polanski laughed as colleagues condemned the desecration of Winston Churchill’s statue, the Daily Express can reveal. The politician was seen sniggering as London Assembly members raged over the vandalism carried out by hard-Left activists last month.

Mr Polanski, who earns more than £66,000 a year as an Assembly Member, was spotted rolling his eyes when the motion to condemn the attack was read out. He then voted against it – to the horror of members who had assumed it would pass unanimously.

One Assembly Member told the Daily Express she was left “shaking with rage”. She said: “He was sat there laughing at those of us who are outraged by the desecration of Churchill’s statue.” Tory London Assembly Member Susan Hall, who stood against Sadiq Khan for mayor in 2024, blasted: “How dare he refuse to condemn this?”

Last month vandals defaced the bronze statue in Parliament Square, daubing it with red graffiti branding Churchill a “Zionist war criminal”. Phrases including “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine” were sprayed across the sculpture. A group calling itself “Free the Filton 24”, supporters of Palestine Action activists charged over attacks on a defence firm, claimed responsibility.

Speaking at today’s meeting, fellow Green Assembly Member Zoe Garbett defended the act of vandalism that caused fury from veterans and politicians at the time, saying: “Non-violent direct action has always been a legitimate and necessary part of democratic political life.” Mr Garbett added that “rather than worrying about a statue, what should worry us all is the UK’s complicity and continued support for Israel.”

But Ms Hall hit back saying “the rule of law is a cornerstone of our system and those who break the law must face consequences.” Criticism came in from Parliament as well, with Tory MP Gareth Bacon saying the vote exposed the Greens as “unpatriotic”.

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Fellow MP Jack Rankin piled on the pressure saying: “This shameful vote tells us all we need to know about Mr Polanski’s Green Party – it is fundamentally opposed to all that Britain stands for.” He added: “Sir Winston Churchill defended our country in its darkest hour. Mr Polanski would appease our enemies in the Middle East and leave us exposed by abandoning our nuclear deterrent.”

The Green leader has previously called for Britain to scrap its nuclear weapons.

Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois said Churchill “led our country through a war of national survival against Hitler’s Nazi regime. To deface his memorial like this is not an act of free speech but an insult to a successful war leader, now endorsed by a party of Left-wing extremists posing as friends of the environment.”

“They should be ashamed of themselves,” the Shadow Minister fumed.

Retired Colonel Richard Kemp said Mr Polanski’s behaviour revealed he is “anti-British”. He condemned Mr Polanski for being “willing to play fast and loose with the law” adding that the vandalism was criminal.

He added: “Churchill was one of our greatest, who led the world in the fight against Nazism. Equally concerning is that he doesn’t condemn the vandal’s demand to “globalise the intifada”. That means spreading terrorism around the world, especially against Jews. We saw the lethal outcome of that recently in both Manchester and Bondi. If he is willing to tacitly support anti-British action and the endorsement of terrorism it shows Polanski is unfit for political office.”

The Green Party was contacted for comment.