PMQs comes as Resolution Foundation says it is not ‘realistic’ to think defence spending can increase without tax rises
Analysis: new battle lines drawn as the leaders face off
Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has said that the Holborn and St Pancras byelection will be “a referendum on ending rip-off Britain”.
In a statement to mark the first anniversary of his election as Green leader, Polanski said:
The Holborn and St Pancras by election will be a referendum on ending rip-off Britain. Only the Greens have a real plan for real hope and change.
We will announce our candidate in due course and they will set out an exciting agenda for the deep change our country needs.
Polanski hasn’t confirmed he intends to run in Keir Starmer’s Holborn and St Pancras seat, but … Green officials put out an afternoon statement saying “Zack has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP,” he was knocking doors in Camden last night and he sent out a quote saying “I am very excited for the next chapter for myself.” See if you can decipher that one. One person in the party said they expect him to put himself forward for selection this week.
But my POLITICO colleague Isabel Loubser (formerly of the Islington Tribune) hears from two Green figures that one of Polanski’s two deputy leaders, Mothin Ali, is also interested in running. One person says he would potentially gain the backing of two key leftie groups in the constituency: the Camden People’s Alliance and a local Muslim alliance too. The seat has a big Bengali and Muslim community.
