BBC finally interviews Zack Polanski, but Laura Kuenssberg’s MIA

The BBC and Laura Kuenssberg have attracted criticism over their handling of Greens leader Zack Polanski. Many accused them of treating him differently to other political leaders — particularly Nigel Farage. Now, the new leader has finally made it on to the Sunday interview show, and yet:

As broken by @NewStatesman on Wednesday https://t.co/BJH4PPPS5Y https://t.co/a09VFSWsC6 pic.twitter.com/GyBSLdDKb0

— megan kenyon (@meganekenyon) October 18, 2025

Zack Polanski wants a better wealth tax

Interviewed by guest host Victoria Derbyshire, Polanski had some good moments:

.@ZackPolanski is right, we don’t need a wealth tax for public investment, we can do that anyway, but a wealth tax is one tool to help tackle inequality in our society. Zack is also right that we need to raise Capital Gains Tax, & we should always question the bias of economists! pic.twitter.com/ucfMLOqSUb

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 19, 2025

In the video above, Polanski said the following on how much wealth taxes could raise:

So the estimates that have come out from the TUC and a group called Patriotic Millionaires, who are a group of millionaires saying taxes more, look between 15 to 25 billion pounds a year.

Derbyshire noted such amounts weren’t ‘serious money’ in the eyes of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), with Polanski responding:

It’s ultimately about reducing inequality. This isn’t about creating public investment. We can do that anyway. We don’t need to tax the wealthy to do that. This is ultimately about tackling the deep inequality in our society. In terms of Paul Johnson and the IFS, they very much look to protect and maintain the status quo. And what I would say is the status quo of the economy is not working for almost anyone at the moment, unless you’re in that top 1% of the wealthiest.

Derbyshire seemed shocked by this, asking:

Don’t you accept the IFS are independent?

It’s beneath her to feign surprise, as everyone in UK politics knows these ‘thinktanks’ are generally part of the same establishment circles as journalists, politicians, and billionaires. As Byline Times reported:

• 22% of UK think tanks do not reveal their total income
• Just 32% of think tanks reveal all their funders more than £7,500
• Overall, right-wing organisations are less transparent than left-wing organisations – and yet have more cash

While the IFS isn’t one of the thinktanks they covered, an organisation or individual can be completely financially independent of the establishment while still reinforcing its worst qualities. It’s similar to what Noam Chomsky said to Kuenssberg’s predecessor Andrew Marr:

Worth remembering this exchange, when Mr. Marr interviewed Noam Chomsky in 1996: pic.twitter.com/aR5LndKeV3

— Alan Ferrier (@alanferrier) September 25, 2024

Talking to Derbyshire, Polanski noted the IFS has connections to Barclays, but again — their independence isn’t necessarily the issue. We at the Canary are independent from the Green Party, but we often cover them because we share a lot of the same ideas. The IFS favours neoliberal policies even though it admits they’ve failed most people – how seriously are we supposed to take them?

Zack Polanski: Nationalise it!

Polanski also spoke about the need for nationalisation:

Andrew is right, & thats why @ZackPolanski is spot on to talk about the need to look at nationalisation. https://t.co/zjBaAJiKZg pic.twitter.com/aBSgGKEs1h

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 19, 2025

As We Own It have said:

You were promised better, cheaper services back in the 1980s and 1990s, when Margaret Thatcher privatised your public services. Instead, 40 years later, you’re paying more for a worse service.

You pay more, both as a taxpayer and directly when public services are privatised. Since privatisation, your water bills, energy bills and rail and bus fares have risen far above inflation.

The quality of your services is also damaged by privatisation. Terrible public transport. Raw sewage in our rivers and seas. Worse care in our NHS because of outsourcing. There are many examples of privatisation failing.

The neoliberals would have you believe there is no other way; We Own It and Polanski are here to remind you that sometimes the old ways are better.

Running scared?

The reason people suspect Kuenssberg might want to avoid Polanski is because they think she’s a right-wing stooge. They think this because her interview technique varies in relation to her guests’ political opinions.

Given that, you’d think she’d want to interview Polanski so that she could show him up. Here’s the thing, though – Kuenssberg isn’t very good at interviewing people, and Polanski is very good at being interviewed. As such, a contentious discussion would no doubt have benefitted the Greens more than anyone.

This is all speculation, of course, but it’s not speculation to state that Polanski was the only major party leader Kuenssberg failed to interview around their conference.

Farrukh highlighted the BBC still doesn’t seem to take the Greens seriously, even though they’re tied with Labour in some polls:

15 mins – Nigel Farage
12 mins – Zia Yusuf (not even an MP)
8 mins – Zack Polanski

Great that ZP ended up on BBC’s flagship program Laura Kuenssberg, even if it was with Victoria Derbyshire

But why is it the Greens’ are getting nearly half as much time as Reform UK’s leader,… pic.twitter.com/pACqTLWiX9

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) October 19, 2025

🚨 BREAKING | Greens TIED with Labour

➡️ REF – 32% (-)
🔵 CON – 17% (-)
🟢 GRN – 15% (-)
🔴 LAB – 15% (-2)
🟠 LD – 12% (-)

Via @FindoutnowUK, 15 Oct (+/- vs 8 Oct) pic.twitter.com/qYDEfFS2WH

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) October 16, 2025

Let’s end this

At this point, it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. The mega rich keep getting richer; everyone else keeps getting poorer, and society is breaking down as it happens. We cannot continue like this.

It’s not for nothing that Oxbridge establishment figures would have you believe we can’t do anything. We’ve lessened wealth inequality in the past, though, and we will do it again.

Polanski is one of the only UK politicians to call this out, and it’s no doubt why the BBC treats him like an oddity.

Featured image via BBC