Polanski heckled at Jewish community hustings after saying that Zionism is a form of racism – UK politics live

Zack Polanski declared himself an anti-Zionist and faced heckling at a Jewish community hustings in Holborn and St Pancras, where the Green party leader is standing as a candidate in next month’s byelection.

He said Zionism – the movement for a Jewish state – was a form of racism because it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. His remarks were met with boos from the audience last night.

“I’m an anti-Zionist. I think countries have always been ideas and I think things change over time,” he said.

Polanski, who is Jewish, said criticising the Israeli government and the occupation of Palestinian land was not antisemitic. “We need to come together to recognise that when we call that antisemitic, we are making ourselves as Jewish people less safe,” he added.

As the Green party prepares for its annual conference, members are due to vote on a motion to declare Zionism as a form of racism in official policy. As my colleague Peter Walker reported last week, some in the party fear it could alienate Jewish supporters if it passed:

A Green official said that many activists loyal to the party’s leadership might not be at the autumn conference because it takes place a week before voting in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, in which Polanski hopes to take Keir Starmer’s old seat from Labour, potentially leaving more scope for others to push through the motion.

“The risk is that if it passes as it is we are alienating ourselves from the Jewish community in the UK, a lot of whom are not big fans of the current Israeli government,” a Green source said.

There was, they added, a parallel worry about internal splits, with some Green activists in leaked WhatsApp chats warning that Polanski was “struggling to overcome Zionist indoctrination”.

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  Polanski heckled as he declares himself an anti-Zionist at byelection hustings

In other developments:

• Foreign secretary Ed Miliband told his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, that Britain will “not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil”. The comments were made during a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York, Foreign Office said. The pair discussed the war in the Middle East, the strait of Hormuz crisis and the UK’s “unwavering resolve to combat threats from Iranian-linked groups in UK soil”, according to a readout of the meeting.

• Advisers in No 10 are pushing for the prime minister to call an early election as part of an attempt to keep Labour in power, according to the Telegraph. The newspaper reported senior members of Andy Burnham’s team believe calling an election in spring would give the party the best chance of winning another majority.

• Defence companies and critical infrastructure providers will be briefed on the threat posed by Russia and its proxies, including cyber attacks, sabotage and disinformation targeting organisations vital to Ukraine’s defence. The government announced security minister Dan Jarvis and Armed Forces minister Louise Sandher-Jones will chair closed-door meetings with industry leaders in the coming weeks.

Morning, and welcome to our UK politics live blog.

Zack Polanski declared himself an anti-Zionist and faced heckling at a Jewish community hustings in Holborn and St Pancras, where the Green party leader is standing as a candidate in next month’s byelection.

He said Zionism – the movement for a Jewish state – was a form of racism because it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. His remarks were met with boos from the audience last night.

“I’m an anti-Zionist. I think countries have always been ideas and I think things change over time,” he said.

Polanski, who is Jewish, said criticising the Israeli government and the occupation of Palestinian land was not antisemitic. “We need to come together to recognise that when we call that antisemitic, we are making ourselves as Jewish people less safe,” he added.

As the Green party prepares for its annual conference, members are due to vote on a motion to declare Zionism as a form of racism in official policy. As my colleague Peter Walker reported last week, some in the party fear it could alienate Jewish supporters if it passed:

A Green official said that many activists loyal to the party’s leadership might not be at the autumn conference because it takes place a week before voting in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, in which Polanski hopes to take Keir Starmer’s old seat from Labour, potentially leaving more scope for others to push through the motion.

“The risk is that if it passes as it is we are alienating ourselves from the Jewish community in the UK, a lot of whom are not big fans of the current Israeli government,” a Green source said.

There was, they added, a parallel worry about internal splits, with some Green activists in leaked WhatsApp chats warning that Polanski was “struggling to overcome Zionist indoctrination”.