With a day to go before voters head to the polls, Zack Polanski is determined to go out with a bang. Having already issued a quasi-apology to the police after criticising their handling of the Golders Green knife incident, the great Green boob whisperer decided the morning before local elections day would be the perfect moment for a sequel. Cue an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, where Nick Robinson invited him to explain why his ire seemed directed less at the man with the blade and more at those trying to stop him.
In a bid to appeal to both the Mothin Alis and Caroline Lucases of the world, Polanski responded:
Two things can be true at the same time. Officers can be incredibly brave when they run towards scenes of crimes, that most people including myself would want to run away from. At the same time, I was also traumatised by seeing someone handcuffed and repeatedly kicked in the head.
But there is a problem with his heartfelt explanation. The attacker in question was, er, not handcuffed. His hands were, in fact, free enough to continue gripping the knife used to stab two Jewish victims, which rather explains the urgency, and force, of the police response Polanski found so ‘traumatising’. Truly, leadership worthy of Churchill.
Robinson also pressed Polanski on another embellishment: his claim to have worked as a spokesman for the Red Cross. He hasn’t. But by lunchtime that particular gaffe was old and out of date. The Greens were back on the defence about the alleged antisemitic assault, insisting that in this instance of fudge-up: ‘Zack misspoke.’
For the many, not the Jew eh?
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