Reform supporter performs Nazi salutes at Zack Polanski rally in Hastings

A Reform supporter performed three Nazi salutes during a Green Party rally in Hastings led by Zack Polanski on 30 April – while others in his group stood by without intervening – in an incident that has drawn attention not only for what happened but for who has chosen not to report it.

The incident was documented by Hastings and Bexhill Stand Up to Racism, a grassroots community organisation that monitors far-right activity in the area. A small group of Reform supporters had gathered at the rally to cause disruption. During the disturbance, one individual performed three Nazi salutes. Others in the group made no attempt to stop him.

Hastings Green Party posted an image of Polanski following the event, saying: “Zack smashed it despite a very small number of shouty Reform voters. Proud of our town.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hastings & Bexhill Stand Up To Racism (@hastingsandbexhill_sutr)

Who Polanski is – and why this matters

Polanski is the only Jewish leader of a major British political party. He has spoken publicly about suffering antisemitic abuse on a daily basis since becoming Green Party leader. Just days earlier, he had been at the centre of a political row over the Golders Green terror attack, in which he was accused by right-wing commentators of downplaying antisemitism for arguing the government should not use the attack as justification for restricting the right to peaceful protest.

His response to those accusations was consistent with his position throughout: that antisemitism is real, serious and experienced by him personally, and that using it as a political weapon is both wrong and counterproductive.

The Hastings incident places those accusations in a specific context. Polanski – the Jewish leader those same commentators were criticising for being insufficiently concerned about antisemitism – was the target of Nazi salutes from supporters of a rival political party. He did not perform or condone them. They were directed at him.

The silence from those who claimed to care

Hastings and Bexhill Stand Up to Racism pointed to a pattern they described as a clear double standard in media coverage of antisemitism.

Right-wing media figures including TalkTV host Julia Hartley-Brewer and Telegraph columnist Jake Wallis Simons – both of whom have used their platforms extensively to criticise Polanski and the Green Party over antisemitism in the context of the Golders Green debate and the pro-Palestine marches – had made no comment on the Hastings incident at the time of publication.

The SUTR branch noted: “Reform has repeatedly shown who they are and people should believe them.” On the media silence, they said: “If the tables were turned and a Green Party supporter had performed a Nazi salute, it would be headline news. The same commentators would have elevated their voices and harnessed their platforms to condemn the act. This of course doesn’t apply to the Greens.”

The observation reflects a genuine inconsistency. Those who argue that antisemitism must be called out regardless of its political source have not applied that standard to this incident. Whether that is because the incident does not fit the narrative that antisemitism comes primarily from the left, or for other reasons, the silence has been noted.

Reform UK and the far right – an ongoing question

Reform UK has repeatedly distanced itself from far-right activism and racial extremism. Nigel Farage has condemned racism in unambiguous terms on multiple occasions and the party has moved to remove candidates found to have made racist or extremist statements.

However, the question of who is attracted to Reform’s rallies and events – and what that says about the party’s relationship with the far right fringe of its support – is one that critics have raised throughout its rise to 27% in the polls. The Hastings incident is one data point, not a comprehensive picture of Reform’s membership or its official positions.

What is clear is that a Nazi salute directed at the only Jewish leader of a major British political party, performed by someone who had come specifically to disrupt that leader’s public rally, is an antisemitic act. The fact that it was performed by a Reform supporter does not make Reform institutionally antisemitic. It does make the silence from those who loudly claim to oppose antisemitism harder to explain.

The broader pre-election context

The incident took place two days before the May 7 local elections, in which the Green Party is projected to make its most significant electoral gains in history – potentially winning up to 555 council seats, taking multiple London boroughs and running joint first nationally with Reform at 17%.

The Greens’ rise has been accompanied by intensifying scrutiny from across the political spectrum. The Spectator ran a piece this week accusing the party of harbouring antisemites among its own candidates, citing social media posts from a Green candidate in Lambeth. Jewish News reported allegations of antisemitic comments from Green candidates in Newcastle – though Polanski visited the city and publicly backed “99% of his candidates” while condemning any antisemitism within the party.

The picture is therefore genuinely complicated. The Green Party has its own work to do on antisemitism within its ranks – Polanski has acknowledged this directly. And Reform supporters performed Nazi salutes at a rally led by the only Jewish party leader in British politics. Both of these things can be true simultaneously. The question is whether media figures who profess to care about antisemitism are applying the same standard to both.