Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned Green Party leader Zack Polanski as “disgraceful” and unfit to lead a political party after Polanski shared a social media post critical of police conduct during the arrest of a suspect in the Golders Green stabbings. The incident occurred on Wednesday in northwest London, where two Jewish people were stabbed. Footage of the arrest shows officers appearing to kick the suspect on or near his head.
Polanski retweeted a post on X alleging that officers were “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” while he was already incapacitated by a stun gun. The Metropolitan Police commissioner, Mark Rowley, later described the claim as “inaccurate and misinformed commentary” and praised the officers’ actions as “nothing short of extraordinary.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Starmer defended the officers, noting that they may have believed the suspect was carrying an explosive device in his rucksack. “I don’t know what was going through the mind of those officers, but if I was there, I’d be thinking: ‘He’s going to detonate something. He’s going to blow me up and everybody around here,’” Starmer said. He added that politicians should not “wade in” with criticism, calling Polanski’s actions “disgraceful.”
Polanski issued an apology on Friday, saying he shared the post “in haste” and acknowledged that social media is not the appropriate channel for discussing police responses. He invited Rowley to meet with him to discuss the broader issues. In a separate statement, Polanski also noted that during a campaign visit to Hastings, a group of protesters directed Nazi salutes at him, and accused Starmer of using his office to attack “the only Jewish party leader to score political points.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also criticized Polanski, saying, “If someone Zack Polanski loved had just been stabbed, I don’t think he would be worried about how the police were disarming that person.”
The row comes as the director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, warned of a “deeply troubling rise in antisemitic incidents across the country” and promised to firmly tackle all hate crimes. Parkinson stated that the Crown Prosecution Service would use “the full force of the law” to prosecute those responsible for antisemitic crimes.
Meanwhile, Essa Suleiman, 45, appeared in court on Friday charged with the attempted murders of three people during two knife attacks in London on Wednesday, including the Golders Green incident and an alleged attack in south London.
