In putting an attack on Israel front and centre of his party’s local election launch, you would think Zack Polanski was campaigning abroad. Traditionally, English town hall elections were about nothing more exotic than bin collection schedules, the scourge of dog muck and the height of your neighbours’ leylandii. All of a sudden, international trade is on the agenda. Well, trade with one country specifically. Quite why Polanski’s call to tear up the UK-Israel trade agreement would appeal to an electorate that has never shown any municipal interest in the matter before now is a mystery. Truly, the English are a fickle lot.

If demagoguing about Israel worked in the by-election, it’s worth........

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