Zia Yusuf has challenged Green leader Zack Polanski to a head-to-head debate in Manchester this week ahead of the crunch by-election. Reform UK’s head of policy insisted the Greens “owe it to the public to engage seriously on the substantive detail of your policy platform”.
In a letter to Mr Polanski, Mr Yusuf said he would be campaigning in Gorton and Denton on Thursday and invited him to take part in a televised debate. It comes as the by-election is the constituency is expected to be a three-horse race between Labour, Reform and the Greens.
Mr Yusuf said in his letter: “There is a by-election in Manchester where there is a weight of expectation that you will challenge Reform at the ballot box.
“I will be there this coming Thursday, and I will even let you choose a moderator of your choice.”
The Reform politician reeled off a series of Green policies including on immigration, defence and the economy.
He said: “Your party ‘wants to see a world without borders’ and makes clear that ‘migration is not a criminal offence under any circumstances’.
“In supporting unlimited immigration and therefore the invasion of the United Kingdom by anyone who chooses to arrive on our beaches, you owe it to the British people to explain what impact this would have on their lives.
“You declared you would destroy Britain’s nuclear deterrent, while Vladimir Putin marauds through Ukraine.
“When challenged on how you would do this by Trevor Phillips, you said you would simply ask Putin to give up his weapons too.
“Given your prior attempts at hypnosis were unsuccessful, the British people deserve a clear understanding of what methods you would use to bewitch Putin into doing such a thing.
“You say the rich do not pay enough tax. Yet your appearance on The Rest is Politics betrayed the fact you did not even know what the top rate of income tax is.
“You did not know the difference between the national debt and the deficit. You seek to upend the British economy while wielding the economic knowledge of a GCSE student.
“You have said you wish to outlaw landlords and legalise all drugs. In your version of Britain, it is legal to buy crack cocaine, heroin and fentanyl but illegal to rent out your flat.
“Again, the British people deserve to understand how they can expect their children to be safe from the dangers of hard drugs should you achieve your goals.”
Mr Polanski said he would take part in a debate but only with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The Green leader said: “As I keep saying, I would be more than happy to debate, leader to leader, with Nigel Farage.
“I’m starting to get the impression he might not be keen? Maybe you could be kind enough to pass this message on?”
