Zack Polanski, a politician elected to the Greater London Authority (the body that oversees the Mayor of London), refused three times to say sorry to Nigel Farage after sharing a photo of a man wearing a T-shirt with a guillotine on it and the words "we're only making plans for Nigel" (BBC News).

The disagreement has pulled in the police, the GLA's conduct officer, and senior government figures. Reform UK, Farage's party, reported Polanski to the police over the post (The Independent). Farage also made a personal complaint to officers. The Guardian reported on 27 July 2026 that police are looking into the matter after Farage reported the post (The Guardian). The Metropolitan Police said there was no update on the complaint they received on the Monday (BBC News).

Farage shared a screenshot of Polanski's post on X (formerly Twitter), saying that if he had posted something as "inciteful" he would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski. Zia Yusuf, who speaks on home affairs for Reform UK, said the image showed "a photo of man calling for the beheading of Nigel Farage" and could amount to "incitement to murder" (BBC News).

Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Polanski said the re-post was an "inadvertent mistake" and that he would have apologised if he had done it on purpose. He explained that the photo was the fifth in a set of 20 pictures from a party. He had accepted a request from a photographer at the event to share the images on Instagram. Polanski said he had not read the slogan on the T-shirt when he agreed to share the photos. He said he only noticed a rainbow hat as he flicked through pictures of people partying (BBC News).

Polanski said Farage had cropped the image to make it look as though Polanski had posted it himself, which he called "fundamentally dishonest". Polanski also said he received a death threat on the Tuesday after the re-post (BBC News).

Reform UK asked the GLA's conduct officer to investigate whether Polanski broke the rules that members agree to follow. Pat McFadden, a senior government minister (the Work and Pensions Secretary), said there is a "duty on all politicians to be careful about what they post" (BBC News).

The person who made the T-shirt, described as an anarchist printer, has taken it off sale (The Telegraph).

The case has also attracted attention abroad. Reason magazine reported on 28 July 2026 that Farage, who has previously criticised the British government for using police in free speech cases, was at the same time calling for his political opponent to be arrested over an Instagram post (Reason).

The broader context here is that political rows over social media posts are increasingly being taken to the police rather than argued out in the usual way, through public debate and elections. Think of it like a neighbour calling the police over a garden fence dispute instead of talking it through. The Polanski-Farage episode raises questions about how the law treats online posts, whether sharing someone else's image makes you as responsible as if you had created it, and whether the rules are being applied the same way to everyone. The fact that a government minister commented on a London politician's social media post is unusual. It suggests Downing Street does not want the story seen as just a fight between Reform and the Greens.

Farage's position, criticising the use of police in free speech matters while himself reporting a post to the police, is a contradiction that MPs from both the Opposition and the government are likely to raise when Parliament returns. The Metropolitan Police's handling of the complaint will also be watched to see whether it is consistent with how similar complaints about public figures have been dealt with before.