Zack Polanski says he ‘didn’t do anything wrong’ over Nigel Farage guillotine post
Speaking on BBC Newsnight, the Green Party leader explained the image appeared on his account by mistake after he accepted a collaboration request on Instagram
By Callum Wells
Zack Polanski has said he has “not done anything wrong” after Reform UK reported him to police over an Instagram post featuring a guillotine alongside Nigel Farage‘s name.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight, the Green Party leader explained the image appeared on his account by mistake after he accepted a collaboration request on Instagram.
“It had 20 images and I just didn’t look carefully enough and I accepted it,” he said.
Why has Reform UK reported Zack Polanski to the police?
The post was published after Polanski accepted a collaboration request from a photographer following a Green Party fundraising event in Bristol. One image in the 20-photo carousel showed a man wearing a black T-shirt printed with a guillotine and the words: “We’re only making plans for Nigel.”
Polanski said the image was the fifth photograph in the carousel and that he removed it as soon as he realised it had appeared on his account.
"Nigel Farage then took it, cropped it so it made it like I posted it… It's now had 3.2 million views."
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) July 28, 2026
Green leader, Zack Polanski, accuses Reform UK of "ramping up" the row over resharing an Instagram post, "putting me in a dangerous spot."#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/YJA86ZVeOn
Reform UK has since filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Police, with the party claiming the image amounted to incitement to murder. Farage has also called for Polanski to be arrested, while Reform’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf accused the Green leader of “inciting murder”. The Metropolitan Police has confirmed officers are making inquiries after receiving a third-party report.
Addressing the police complaint, Polanski said: “I think it would be odd for the police to speak to me about that because I think it’s quite obvious that I’ve not done anything wrong other than making an inadvertent mistake.”
How has Polanski responded to the police complaint?
He added: “If the police do want to talk to me, of course I’m very happy to co-operate.”
This is what Zack Polanski has just posted on his instagram.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 27, 2026
If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski. pic.twitter.com/u1s25FQ38U
Polanski also rejected calls to apologise directly to Farage. “Because this was a mistake, I think the important thing is that I point out it’s a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence and also crucially make a commitment to be better on my social media,” he said.
The Green leader went on to claim Farage had shared a cropped screenshot of the original Instagram post that removed surrounding context, and said he had received a death threat since the row began.
Polanski said he would not offer what he described as a “false apology”, adding that he had already acknowledged the mistake and condemned political violence.