Mailwatch(ed) Forum

He does have funny teeth, mind.

His delivery is reminiscent of consumer champion Martin Lewis, people like him.

This is a rather crude analysis, if Polanski's leadership can shave a few points off all the parties then it could be Reform and the Tories who will be the bigger losers. Taking away Reform's dustbin protest vote would make my year.

It's kind of interesting how Zack has very little to say on the environment which considering you know he's in charge of the Green Party is noticeable.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Thu Oct 16, 2025 12:09 pm It's kind of interesting how Zack has very little to say on the environment which considering you know he's in charge of the Green Party is noticeable.

I wouldn't be able to tell you there green policies. They score highly on Green issues it seems because they have Green in the title.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Wed Oct 15, 2025 8:25 pm Top thinking here from Zack.

The Welsh will see no benefit from HS2? The first thing that springs to mind is the extra freight paths on the West Coast Main Line that will come in handy when trying to get steel into Port Talbot.

When will the grown ups enter the room?

There's also the benefit to Wales from the much faster journeys to Crewe, and on the North Wales coastal line. And the extra train paths from Mid Wales into Birmingham.

But compared with Scotland getting full Barnett consequentials this does sound underwhelming to lots of people in Wales. The reason for that is that rail isn't fully devolved to Wales, unlike Scotland, which meets far more of the costs of rail in Scotland from its own budget. Labour in opposition even said that Wales was due these Barnett consequentials and I can't really blame anyone who took them at their word.

So Wales is basically like a region of England in rail terms, with the Welsh Government having the power to choose its own franchise on the Wales franchise, just like the Merseyside mayor can with Merseyrail. Does it do particularly badly from funding? Not as well as some parts of England, but the South Wales Metro is substantial, and some regions of England would be very happy with that.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Wed Oct 15, 2025 8:25 pm Top thinking here from Zack.

David Klemperer was saying that unlike Corbyn, for instance, Zack's not got a coherent philosophy anywhere, almost like it's been stuck together from memes. That's not just true of him or course, and lots of people will like what he says. But this is a difficult area, as James Austin says. The logic of "not paying towards this, it's somewhere else" will bite you on the arse pretty sharpish if you get near to power.

Best way to approach this is to leave that argument out altogether and argue for greater capital spending on Wales on the basis of need, and with perhaps some shift from Scotland (though there are political problems with that, to say the least). Not surprising to see Zack is a is a Scottish indepdendence fan, while no doubt sticking it to Brexit for economic recklessness.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Fri Oct 17, 2025 6:31 pm

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Wed Oct 15, 2025 8:25 pm Top thinking here from Zack.

David Klemperer was saying that unlike Corbyn, for instance, Zack's not got a coherent philosophy anywhere, almost like it's been stuck together from memes. That's not just true of him or course, and lots of people will like what he says. But this is a difficult area, as James Austin says. The logic of "not paying towards this, it's somewhere else" will bite you on the arse pretty sharpish if you get near to power.

Best way to approach this is to leave that argument out altogether and argue for greater capital spending on Wales on the basis of need, and with perhaps some shift from Scotland (though there are political problems with that, to say the least). Not surprising to see Zack is a is a Scottish indepdendence fan, while no doubt sticking it to Brexit for economic recklessness.

2010s meme culture really did a lot of damage to the left didn't it?

Ellie Chowns (Green) asks if the PM accepts inequality, not immigration, is the reason for low living standards.

Starmer says, if the Greens want to tackle inequality, they should vote for Labour’s measures to address this.

Lots of big houses in North Herefordshire, Ellie, or are we still pretending a few people (mostly in London) can pay for everything?

Zack Polanski's been booked for HIGNFY on the 6th of November.

This could do for him what it did for Boris Johnson, or end very, very badly if he can't handle the BBC inevitably going in with its studs up.

Cheeky, gap-toothed chappie - "Good 'Ol Zak".

Yup, can just about see it.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Thu Oct 16, 2025 12:09 pm It's kind of interesting how Zack has very little to say on the environment which considering you know he's in charge of the Green Party is noticeable.

It's very much in the German / Dutch green tradition.
It begins with emphasis on the conglomerate pouring Kilotons of sewage into a river than an old granny putting packaging in the wrong bin.
It recoginses that progress hinges on a more equal society, and the threat posed by the proponents of deregulation.

Everyone knows the Greens are in favour of environmental policies, that's already in the bag.

Lots of people like those but might not like lots of the other stuff, or like the explanation that it's "party democracy, join us if you want it changed"

Private Eye piece on Zack's Lib Dems days.

https://www.private-eye.co.uk/issue-1658/hp-sauce

This part stood out to me.

One SLF colleague, who spoke to Polanski during the Richmond Park kerfuffle, was bemused: "He was thinking aloud about how all the other parties would love to have someone like him, and he went through them one by one, and why he didn't want to join any of them. That stayed with me, because a few months later, up he pops having joined the Greens."

It's all about him. Not what I can do for the party, just I'm brilliant and you should bow to my talents, and how dare you not select me to stand for Parliament.

But I'm prepared to admit he's entirely sincere about where he is now. His political journey is probably more common than we might think. The Lib Dems used to have quite a few "left of Labour" people in them, for reasons that entirely escaped me, and the Greens are maybe a better home for them.

Possibly, although I do think there's a large part of zeal of the convert in there. I suppose having met one or two people in politics, like Zack, makes me distrustful of him.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 7:57 pm But I'm prepared to admit he's entirely sincere about where he is now. His political journey is probably more common than we might think. The Lib Dems used to have quite a few "left of Labour" people in them, for reasons that entirely escaped me, and the Greens are maybe a better home for them.

There was a lot of that during the Brown Premiership, about how the Lib Dems were to the left of Labour and how in 2010 a vote for them would be a vote for a progressive coalition without getting your hands dirty by voting Labour post-Iraq. Sadly, these people had never heard of the Orange Book.

Oh dear, another idiot in the "ooh, nuclear scary and dangerous" camp who seems to be unaware that you need a base load for power generation: think of those still, foggy nights where wind and solar become utterly useless because you can bet your bottom dollar that the likes of Polanski would also object to battery energy storage facilities too.

Unless of course, Polanski thinks we should just light our rooms with eco-friendly candles at night.