Why is Zack Polanski campaigning in Urdu? Even by the standards of the hypnotic hooter-helper, a man who once sang ‘Lib Dem fightback’ on national television, his latest social media video reaches new levels of cringe. With the shameless gusto of a man who has spent ten minutes on Duolingo, he addresses his prospective constituents in Holborn and St Pancras in Urdu, the national language of Pakistan.

A staggering 43.3 per cent of households are social renters

A staggering 43.3 per cent of households are social renters

The obvious explanation for this bizarre spectacle is the Green party’s growing indulgence of sectarian politics. During the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, Hannah Spencer’s successful campaign published leaflets in Urdu and released videos implying Labour was in the pocket of Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu. And at the local elections in May, many Green candidates seemed more fixated on Palestine than potholes. Such tactics have become as predictable as they are depressing.

And yet what’s striking about Polanski’s choice to pander to the Pakistani vote, is how relatively small it is in Holborn and St Pancras.........

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