ZACK Polanski slapped down Laura Kuenssberg with a brutal two-word answer after the BBC journalist tried to corner the Green leader with a “gotcha” question about whether he would ever fly on a plane.
The leader of the Green Party of England and Wales also said he will “absolutely be going for” a parliamentary seat in London when one comes up, when he appeared on Kuenssberg’s Sunday morning politics show.
The BBC journalist had quizzed Polanski on a number of issues, including the Gorton and Denton by-election and the war on Gaza.
However, Kuenssberg’s line of questioning has been criticised by some viewers for trying to pull a “gotcha” moment with the Green leader over his decision not to fly.
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Kuenssberg said to Polanski: “There is a test for the Greens about whether or not you can become that really serious force with your potential eyes on Number 10.
“One thing you've said, as long with [saying] you do not use drink or drugs, is that you don't fly.
“Now, that's from an environmental position, but is it credible to say that you could actually be a candidate for high office if you wouldn't get on a plane?”
“Would you get on a plane to go and see other leaders if you actually achieve high office?”
Polanski replied, simply stating: “Yes, obviously.”
Kuenssberg then followed by asking: “So you would change your position on that?”
Polanski replied: “Well, if I was prime minister of the country or secretary of state and needed to do it for diplomatic reasons, I'd make sure that we looked at Zoom or Teams or whatever, first of all, a remote call.
“But certainly there's times where you need to be sat down with someone diplomatically.
“That's very different now to being leader of a party where I think flying would just be about ego.”
Kuenssberg replied simply “Ok”, before moving on with the interview.
#bbclaurak tries to get a gotcha. Zack, you refuse to fly. How can you be a candidate for high office if you'd refuse to ever get on a plane?
Well Laura, in that situation I'd get on a plane. pic.twitter.com/vfWNSsNuw6— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 1, 2026
The Green Party leader also rejected that discussing Gaza is “divisive” and criticised the UK Government’s “outrageous” response to the genocide and its links with arms companies.
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When asked by Kuenssberg: “You say you want to turn people's anger into hope, but you've also said that you're going to make an issue of Gaza in the by-election, in an area where there is a large Muslim population, doesn't that just stir up division?”
Polanski hit back: “Well, I think I'm not making an issue of Gaza.
“We have a Government that's not just complicit, but actively been arming a genocide – that's been going on for years now.
“I don't think it's just people who are Muslim who are concerned about this.
“In fact, polling shows time and time again, people are deeply unhappy – to understate it – about our Government's role with the Israeli government, and so when I'm in Gorton and Denton, I'm absolutely going to be talking about the same things we've just spoken about, reducing people's bills and protecting people from an economy that's not working for them, and at the same time, you can do more than one thing at once, and say, we have a Government that's outrageous.”
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