Green Party leader Zack Polanski has refused to apologise to Nigel Farage after sharing an Instagram image that showed a man wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of a guillotine and the words "We're only making plans for Nigel." A guillotine is a device historically used for executions. Instead of saying sorry, Polanski challenged Farage to apologise first for endangering other people.

Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, Polanski said he "shared inadvertently" the image, meaning he posted it by accident without fully checking what was in it. He removed it once he realised what it showed. He explained that the post was "a collaboration from a photographer" containing 20 images and that he "just didn't look carefully enough." Polanski said he "didn't pay enough attention to the T-shirt" and was "horrified" by its "dangerous message" (The Guardian).

The Newsnight presenter asked Polanski three times to apologise directly to Farage. Polanski declined each time (BBC News). Instead, he made a conditional offer: "If Nigel Farage wants to apologise for all the times that he's put other people in danger, then I'll be happy to make an apology" (The Guardian).

Polanski also claimed that Farage had taken the Instagram image, cropped it to make it look like Polanski had posted it himself, and that the cropped version got 3.2 million views (BBC Newsnight). This means the situation is not just about Polanski's mistake. Both leaders are now accused of using the same image to attack each other.

Reform UK, Farage's party, reported Polanski to the police. Their home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, accused Polanski of "inciting murder." Farage himself called for Polanski's arrest. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police, London's police force, said they were "conducting inquiries" and took "reports of this nature extremely seriously." Polanski said that as of that Tuesday evening, the police had not contacted him (The Guardian).

Separately, The Telegraph reported that a company that makes anarchist-themed clothing removed the Farage guillotine T-shirt from sale (The Telegraph). This shows the image had spread beyond Polanski's post and was being sold as merchandise before being withdrawn.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, a senior Labour government minister, spoke on Sky News and said there is "a duty on all politicians to be careful about what they post." He added: "It's not the first time Zack Polanski has done something like this" (The Guardian). McFadden was referring to a previous incident in May 2026, when Polanski apologised for sharing a post that criticised the police response to the Golders Green stabbings, saying he had done so "in haste."

The broader context here is that social media posts by political leaders are increasingly being looked at by police and criticised by politicians from other parties. The Metropolitan Police's decision to confirm they are looking into the matter, rather than dismissing the complaint, means Polanski's post has met the basic threshold for an investigation, at least for now. This is the case even though no officer had contacted Polanski at the time of his Newsnight appearance.

The situation also shows a growing rivalry between the Greens and Reform UK. Polanski's claim that Farage cropped and spread the image to millions of viewers turns this from a simple mistake into a two-sided fight, where both sides are accused of using the same image for political gain. Whether people believe Polanski's claim may determine whether the blame stays on him or spreads to Farage as well.

For Polanski, the fact that criticism is coming from both his political opponents and from Labour government ministers makes the situation more dangerous. McFadden's comments show that the expectations for how politicians behave online come from across Parliament, not just from Reform UK. Polanski's approach of admitting a mistake but refusing to apologise and instead challenging Farage to apologise first is a deliberate strategy. But it leaves him little room to step back if the police investigation moves forward.