Nigel Farage has called for the arrest of Green Party leader Zack Polanski after an Instagram post shared by Polanski showed a man wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “We’re only making plans for Nigel” alongside a guillotine.
The Reform UK leader posted a screenshot of the image on X, writing: “If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski.” His party subsequently reported Polanski to the Metropolitan Police, with home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf claiming the post was “incitement to murder”.
“Nigel Farage has reported Green Party leader Zack Polanski to police over an Instagram post showing a guillotine T-shirt.”
The image was part of a carousel of pictures from a Green Party event on Sunday that Polanski shared with his 713,000 Instagram followers. A Green Party spokesperson said Polanski “unequivocally does not support this type of dangerous message” and had “immediately unshared” the post after being alerted. The spokesperson added that Polanski had accepted a collaboration request “without realising there was more to it than he had seen”.
The freelance photographer who took the picture, using the username Just Barold, apologised to Polanski on X, saying “this is not his fault” and that he had reported himself to the police. He described the T‑shirt as “satirical” and said the post was “not intended as a serious threat to anyone’s safety”.
The T‑shirt, which is sold for £20 and made in Manchester, carries the lyrics of XTC’s 1979 song “Making Plans for Nigel”. An online advert for the garment states: “Who could Nigel be? And why the guillotine? Whether it’s a nod to the XTC classic or a sharper bit of political satire…”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they had received a third‑party report and said officers were “conducting inquiries”. The BBC understands Polanski has not yet been contacted by police.
Yusuf had described sharing the image just weeks after the murder of former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe as “staggering”. A Green Party spokesperson said the T‑shirt was “clearly in poor taste, especially at a time of heightened fears for the security of public figures”.
