New Green leader Zack Polanski risks undermining wider public support for environmental causes by linking them to his extreme social and economic positions, a leading Tory warned today.
Alicia Kearns said that the party’s drift even further to the left under Mr Polanski’s leadership could make even the most mainstream green issues appear more ‘toxic’ to voters.
Mr Polanski, who brands himself an ‘eco-populist, last week demanded that the UK scrap its nuclear trident deterrent if Donald Trump’s annexes Greenland.
Nuclear disarmament is a longstanding Green position, but he followed it up with a suggestion that the UK consider expelling more than 10,000 US armed forces personnel based in Britain.
The former Extinction Rebellion activist has demanded Labour ‘tax the rich’, telling the New Statesman last year that ‘you can’t protect the planet while protecting the profits’ of those destroying it.
He has also suggested the Greens could link up with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his new hard Left outfit, Your Party.
Recent polls have suggested he could hold the balance of power in a coalition that may keep the Tories and Reform out of power at the next election.
Writing for the Mail, Ms Kearns, who is from the moderate One Nation wing of the Conservatives, said that he was acting to make even the most minor ‘environmental protection seem economically reckless and politically divisive to the public’.
‘Voters will assume protecting nature and reducing pollution mean accepting economic self-harm and extreme societal change – he is effectively Jeremy Corbyn in disguise,’ the Rutland and Stamford MP said.
‘Here marks the true threat of Polanski – he will turn the environment into a toxic, left-wing issue that only serves to undermine Britain and foster division.’
Mr Polanski, who brands himself an ‘eco-populist, last week demanded that the UK scrap its nuclear trident deterrent if Donald Trump’s annexes Greenland.
The former Extinction Rebellion activist has demanded Labour ‘tax the rich’, telling the New Statesman last year that ‘you can’t protect the planet while protecting the profits’ of those destroying it.
Writing for the Mail, Ms Kearns, who is from the moderate One Nation wing of the Conservatives, said that he was acting to make even the most minor ‘environmental protection seem economically reckless and politically divisive to the public’.
Polanski, a long-term critic of the UK’s Nato membership, last week said the ‘poodle’ UK should take steps to become militarily ‘independent’ of the US, in the wake of the president’s threats to take the Danish island.
Writing in the New Statesman before the president backed down Mr Polanski said that the UK should start by examining how to closing some 13 bases and expelling around 10,000 US personnel who have been based in the country since the Cold War.
The multi-billion-pound renewal of the Trident nuclear missile system should be ‘paused’, he said, while MPs debate whether to carry on with it.
Britain sources the atomic warheads from US stockpiles but maintains operational independence.
Pulling out of Trident would leave the UK without a deterrent at a time when Russian leader Vladimir Putin has made threats to the country due to its ongoing support for Ukraine.
It would also put at risk thousands of specialised jobs in UK shipyards where the new Vanguard Class nuclear submarines are being built.
Mr Polaksi, a former actor and hypnotist, also said the UK needed closer relationships with Europe ‘as well as working within Nato today to ensure the alliance prioritises peacebuilding over militarism’.
Today, discussing the row over the by-election in Gorton and Denton, he reiterated that his party was ‘not here to be disappointed with Labour, but to replace them’.
‘As days pass and Labour seemingly finds new ways to disappoint people, I remain focused on growing the Green Party,’ he said, appealing to Labour voters to vote tactically to keep out Reform.
YouGov last week had the top five parties separated by just 10 points after Reform (24 per cent) failed to get a boost from the defection of three high-profile Tories.
But crucially a coalition cobbled together by Labour (19 per cent), the Liberal Democrats 14 per cent and and the Green Party (17 per cent) would have the backing of half of the electorate.
While vote share does not equate directly to a share of seats, the Conservatives and Reform were urged to end their battle with each other and turn their attention to trying to wrestle back control of the nation.
Zack Polanski is living his best life … but he will turn the environment into a toxic, left-wing issue
Zack Polanski might be living his best life, taking the Greens to record highs in the polls and rubbing shoulders with celebrities on TV.
What is striking from his many interviews is he doesn’t seem to talk about the environment very much.
He seems far more interested in exploiting Trump’s threats against Greenland to excuse his desire to scrap Trident, which would be an incoherent and frankly criminal act of self-harm.
Not to mention the endless self-promotion, woke issues, and fantasy economics he can think of.
On the few occasions he does talk about the environment, however, he binds it to radical left-wing economics and causes.
In doing so, he is making environmental protection seem economically reckless and politically divisive to the public.
Voters will assume protecting nature and reducing pollution mean accepting economic self-harm and extreme societal change – he is effectively Jeremy Corbyn in disguise.
Here marks the true threat of Polanski – he will turn the environment into a toxic, left-wing issue that only serves to undermine Britain and foster division.
His failure to understand basic economics should be particularly jarring for anyone who believes in common sense.
Perhaps most troubling is his active indifference to the risks of driving up government debt. Make no mistake: his taxpayer-funded spending spree would push up interest rates and make financing infrastructure of all kinds – including renewable energy and railways – unaffordable.
His claims that ‘you can’t protect the planet while protecting the profits’ are also misguided.
It is wrong and dangerous to suggest that action on climate change can only be achieved by sacrificing economic growth, shunning markets, and punishing companies that bring economic opportunity to Britain.
That alienates anyone who worries about the prosperity of our nation – which is basically every voter. It also misses the fact that encouraging profit is key to getting companies to invest in green projects and innovation without burdening the Treasury.
Polanski isn’t just coming after economic growth, he is looking to punish ordinary people by asking them to sacrifice life’s everyday pleasures.
Bans on flying, restrictions on petrol cars, only vegan meals served in schools – the list is endless. Instead of taking away, we should be expanding choice by encouraging innovation in new technologies and making them cheaper.
Instead of banning petrol cars, why not help make electric vehicle EVs more accessible and affordable; a lesson clearly Rachel Reeves has also not yet learnt with her overzealous pay-per-mile tax on EVs.
If economic self-sabotage and blanket bans weren’t enough to alienate people, maybe a healthy dose of identity politics will do the trick. Zack Polanski links his climate agenda to trans rights, open borders, and Palestinian solidarity.
Polanski believes there is no climate action without social justice.
Polanski has taken an agenda that people can get behind – safeguarding the environment for our children and grandchildren – and mixed it into a cocktail of extreme left-wing causes.
People want to protect our environment, but it shouldn’t cost the earth. This is where Conservatives can provide a credible, pragmatic alternative.
Polanski doesn’t understand the concerns or priorities of ordinary voters. He certainly doesn’t understand how to protect the environment responsibly. He would rather focus on political click-bait to get himself on TV.
I hope for our nation and planet’s sake, no one treats him seriously.
- Alicia Kearns is the Conservative MP for Rutland and Stamford
