Labour has unveiled a “dossier” accusing Zack Polanski’s Green Party of putting up candidates with records of hateful and dangerous views.
The Greens face questions over their vetting processes, after two local election candidates were last week arrested following allegations of antisemitic posts online. Another has been suspended after being accused of antisemitism using an account referencing Holocaust victim Anne Frank in its name.
Another allegedly shared a racial slur aimed at Deputy PM David Lammy and Tory Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel, while one is claimed to have claimed Jews “fear hate because they know they should be hated”. Labour’s document highlights 25 candidates who have been at the heart of controversy during the local election campaign.
View 3 ImagesGreen candidate Saiqa Ali was arrested last week(Image: Green Party UK)
Communities Secretary Steve Reed said: “This isn’t one or two bad apples. This is serial hatred from candidates handpicked by Zack Polanski and the Green Party to represent them at the ballot box.
“Voters deserve to have councillors who respect them no matter their background and who stand up for and protect all communities. It is clear that neither applies when it comes to Polanski’s Green Party.”
Mr Reed called on Green leader Mr Polanski to kick the candidates out of the party. Last week Saiqa Ali and Sabine Mairey, who are standing for the Greens in Lambeth, South London, were arrested over allegations of stirring up racial hatred online. Labour’s dossier points to posts including one saying “long live the resistance” alongside a photo of an armed man with a Hamas headband.
Another claimed that Donald Trump was “owned by Jews”. The local party said in a statement that Ms Ali had been suspended, stating: “The quoted social media posts do not reflect the Green Party’s values and we condemn them fully. Saiqa Ali has been suspended pending investigation.”
View 3 ImagesLabour’s Steve Reed hit out at the Greens(Image: PA)
When asked about the arrests at the weekend, Mr Polanski told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “As a Jewish person, those comments disgust me. It’s important that we let the disciplinary process take its place, and that’s exactly what we have.”
Labour’s document points to several more alleged cases of antisemitism. The Greens have withdrawn support for Newcastle candidate Tina Ion following the revelation that she ran a threads account with the handle “thereal.anne.frank”.
It reportedly described Zionists as “vermin” and “rats”, while the profile image was a woman wearing a keffieh headdress – with one post claiming it was “because Ann Frank wearing a keffieh p****s Zionists off”.
Ms Ion said in a statement: “Recently, I have been placed under a public lens, with isolated fragments of my statements being used to distort my core values. I want to be very clear: I absolutely reject any accusation of antisemitism.” She went on: “My criticism is not directed at an ethnicity or a religion; it is directed at a political ideology and a set of state actions.”
The account of one candidate, Newcastle’s Phil Brookes, last year posted an allegation of Palestinian farm animals being mutilated, stating “it takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit antisemitic”.
It also shared an image of an Israel flag being torn to reveal a Nazi swastika flag. Labour’s document points to Newham candidate Rajeev Kumar, with a post on his X account saying he had never met someone who hates Jews, but dozens of Jews who said people hate them.
The post went on: “Now I think they know something about themselves that we don’t, and they fear hate because they know they should be hated for that.”
Labour’s dossier also names Lewisham cadidate Hau-Yu Tam, who last year branded Mr Lammy and Ms Patel “coconuts” – a vile racial slur – in a Facebook post.
A Green Party spokesperson said: “We are standing over 4,500 candidates in these local elections, the vast majority of whom we are proud to have represent us.
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“Where there are examples brought to our attention that do not align with the values of the Green Party, we are looking into them, and in some cases candidates have already been suspended. We are investing in strengthening our vetting procedures to prevent inappropriate candidates slipping through the net.”