News / Politics
‘Lack of truth and honesty in politics leads to rise in fascism’
A sea of Green Party supporters gathered in Bristol for a rally led by party leader Zack Polanski and former co-leader and Bristol Central MP Carla Denyer.
Hundreds were in attendance at St George’s, just off Park Street, on Monday evening, including recently defected Frome Vale councillor Alsayed Al-Maghrabi.
“There’s this real moment where I think people are looking to come together in a physical space as a community,” Polanski said, when speaking to Bristol24/7 before the event. “It’s about coming together and organising for the coming months and years ahead.”
Denyer said the event at St George’s sold out in under four hours after it was announced
The Green Party membership surpassed 150,000 members recently, putting it ahead of the Conservatives and making it the third largest UK party.
The party’s surge in membership, Denyer felt, is an echo of what she’s heard over the years while door-knocking and campaigning.
She said: “People did have a lot of hope for what a Labour government could bring.
“And those hopes have been dashed over and over again with the Labour government deciding that the way to save money is to cut essential services for disabled people, cut winter fuel support for pensioners, to roll back on promises around the climate.”
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Denyer and Polanski were joined on stage with Dominique Palmer, a climate justice activist and Green Party member, who was also moderating the event.
In her opening remarks, Palmer spoke about the “huge challenges” the country is up against, saying that her aim is an “equitable, liveable and thriving future”.
The event saw the trio answer audience questions on several issues, including climate change, proposed changes to the minimum voting age, how the rise of AI as a tool is a threat to human-led jobs and more.
Polanski sees Bristol as a “typical example” of “mass wealth living alongside council estates or even people sleeping on the streets”, even where none of those things “need to happen”.
He added: “The Green party are going to be increasingly talking about the fact that we can make different political choices, like taxing multimillionaires and billionaires and their assets to make sure that we’re funding their public services.”
Palmer, Denyer and Polanski answered questions from audience members about on artificial intelligence, gender, voting ages and more
Polanski said that it’s important to emphasise that these changes “can only be achieved together”, through a “different” way of politics that is “about consultation rather than notification”.
The member of the London Assembly has recently developed a large online presence, known for his upfront stance on numerous divisive issues.
Polanski sees his choice to speak up openly and frankly as a response to the “marked lack of truth and honesty” within politics for a long time.
He told Bristol24/7: “I think what happens then is, without using hyperbole, that does give the rise to fascism because I think a lot of the time people feel like the old party system has completely collapsed, it’s failed them.
“They want to get rid of it. And then we see charlatans sweep in and say that they can fix everything with very simple answers that actually create more hate and division and don’t actually offer practical solutions.”
Addressing those gathered at the events venue in Bristol, he said: “I have two vested interests: to protect the people and protect the planet.
“When those are the only two things that you really have at the heart of your objective, you’re much more able to talk freely and say what’s on your mind.”
While Denyer recognises the Labour government’s efforts in some areas, including the recent implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act, she believes that the ruling party “talked the right talk on several fronts” but failed to “go far enough to make the difference that people want to see”.
New Green councillor Al-Maghrabi says Polanski brings “hope” for the future of politics in the country
With an increasing amount of support for the Greens in Bristol and across the country, an audience member questioned the party representatives’ approach to remaining grounded.
Denyer emphasised that, while the party’s ambitions were high, they were sticking to their “original” political motivations.
She said: “Parliament is such a weird place, there’s a lot of things that are gilded.
“It feels very alien and I hope it always does, because if it starts feeling normal then I’ve gone native and that’s not what I want.
“I’m not in it for the grandiose ceilings, I’m in it to make real change.”
Alsayed Al-Maghrabi, who defected from the Labour Party to the Greens on Thursday, said joining the Green party with leaders like Polanski gives him hope.
He said: “Zack actually tells people that things can change, and the common people don’t have to go hungry and that they should be paid a fair wage and that’s why I joined the Greens.
“Because Zack offers hope and Starmer just talks about hate, and I’m not here to hate.”
All photos: Rob Browne
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