Green leader who backed legalising crack cocaine to claim he can ‘fix economy’

Zack Polanski will today claim he can fix Britain’s economy despite once admitting he doesn’t know the difference between debt and deficit. The Green Party boss, whose policies include the legalisation of crack cocaine, will deliver a major speech pledging to end “rip-off Britain”.

But the audacious bid was savaged last night after the Daily Express revealed his eco-populist party wants to dole out free advice to illegal immigrants, force schools to teach the “moral obligation of asylum”, and hand settled status to anyone who has been in the UK unlawfully for five years.

Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick tore into Mr Polanski’s economic credentials, saying: “Contrary to what Mr Polanski may imagine, you cannot hypnotise the economy into growth“. He added: “The Green Party’s economics are pure fantasy. Their plan to raise taxes on British people and businesses by another £170billion a year would be a total catastrophe.”

The jibe was a reference to Mr Polanski once claiming he could hypnotise a woman’s breasts into growing larger.

The London Assembly member, who made headlines after voting against condemning an attack on a statue of Winston Churchill and laughing during the debate, will accuse Labour of presiding over “managed decline”. But he is expected to lash out at critics, claiming Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK would “rip open the unhealed wounds of a failing economic system” as he tries to position himself as a Left-wing alternative to Labour.

Critics have shredded the Green leader’s economic credibility, pointing to his party’s radical agenda that would cost taxpayers billions while doing nothing to help struggling families. One bombshell policy would create a new Whitehall Department of Migration to mandate that schools teach children on the “need for and moral obligation of asylum and humanitarian protection”.

Shadow Chancellor, Sir Mel Stride said: “Zack Polanski is a man who believes we can just keep shaking the magic money tree, with no consequences whatsoever. His naivety is both breathtaking and dangerous.”

He added: “At the same time as opening the borders and legalising Class A drugs, he would bankrupt Britain and put our national security in serious jeopardy.”

The party has also vowed to give illegal migrants “free advice and support to help them to regularise their status without penalty for being undocumented”. Those who have been in the UK illegally for at least five years would be invited to apply for settled status with full access to welfare handouts, voting rights and a fast-track to citizenship.

The policies fly in the face of public opinion, with 69% of voters saying immigration is too high, according to YouGov polling.

Mr Polanski’s party has also been rocked by scandal, with Green councillor Imtiaz Ali expressing support for Iran’s deceased Ayatollah Khamenei – a tyrant accused of butchering 30,000 of his own citizens. Mr Ali, who sits on Peterborough City Council and chairs the local Green Party, made comments condemned as “clearly antisemitic” by shadow ministers.

Mr Polanski himself sparked fury when he laughed during a London Assembly debate about the vandalism of Churchill’s statue, before voting against a motion condemning the attack. The statue was defaced with red graffiti reading “Zionist war criminal”, “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine” by a Dutch group.

Conservative London Assembly member Susan Hall said she was “shaking with rage” at Mr Polanski’s behaviour. Retired Colonel Richard Kemp said he was “anti-British” and “unfit for political office”.

Speaking at the 40th anniversary of the New Economics Foundation today, Mr Polanski will set out plans for “turning the economy around”, including measures to tackle the cost of living crisis and reform the UK’s fiscal framework.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “This Labour Government has the right economic plan for Britain. The Greens have the wrong answers and no plan. Only a Labour Government can deliver for Britain.”