Lewis Goodall Rips Into Labour’s Criticism Of Polanski

Presenter Lewis Goodall called out a Labour minister after she claimed Zack Polanski is not “fit to be leading a political party”.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander told multiple broadcasters on Sunday that she believed the Green leader should not be in his position of power after he criticised the Metropolitan Police’s response to the Golders Green attack.

Shilome Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76, were left seriously injured in what police have described as a terrorist incident in north west London last Wednesday.

After footage of officers trying to arrest the suspect circulated online, Polanski shared a social media post which suggested the police had been too heavy-handed.

The head of the Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, then publicly hit out at the Green leader and Polanski later issued his own apology for “sharing a tweet in haste”.

Speaking to LBC, Labour’s Alexander continued to criticise Polanski.

She said: “I do think someone who is so quick to jump to their phone to be retweeting that kind of content is not really fit to be leading a political party in this country.”

But Goodall hit back by asking why Keir Starmer stayed in position despite giving Peter Mandelson the job as UK ambassador to the US when his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had already been widely reported.

The presenter said: “So tweeting something stupid is disqualifying for leading a party but appointing a friend of one of the worst paedophiles of our age to one of the most prestigious diplomatic posts we have is not disqualifying?”

“We’ve had weeks of discussions about Peter Mandelson,” the minister hit back. “The prime minister has said he made a mistake and he’s apologised for that.

“I’ve never seen our prime minister criticise the Metropolitan Police who were doing an incredibly brave job.

“You’ve only got to look at that video in the footage to look at what’s going on there.”

Goodall cut in to repeat his question about Mandelson. The minister replied: “Based on information he [Keir Starmer] and his staff weren’t given full information.

“He was effectively lied to about the nature of the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.”

The prime minister has repeatedly claimed he was not told Mandelson failed security vetting for the Washington attache job.

He has also alleged that the ex-Labour peer himself “lied” about the full depth of his friendship with Epstein before getting the role.

However, the Financial Times reported on Mandelson’s relationship with the disgraced financier in 2023, more than a year before the former spin doctor was considered for the top diplomatic posting.

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