The Metropolitan Police will take no further action against Green Party leader Zack Polanski after he reposted an image of a man wearing a T-shirt featuring a guillotine and the words “we’re only making plans for Nigel”, BBC News reported.
The force said it had reviewed the matter and did not believe that sharing the image was likely to amount to a criminal offence. It added that the post had been shared by about 130 accounts and that police should not treat people differently because of their public profile.
The Met said an investigation into all those accounts would be disproportionate and not a reasonable use of police resources, given its conclusion that the threshold for an offence was unlikely to be met.
Although the Met said it would not act against those who shared the image, it recorded a crime in relation to the wearing of the T-shirt and referred the matter to Avon and Somerset Police, as the photograph was taken in Bristol.
Avon and Somerset Police later said the threshold for a criminal offence had not been met. The force said it had considered the context of the image, including its use of song lyrics and the marketing of the T-shirt as satire. It also said no complaints were received from people at the event where it was worn and there was no evidence the wearer intended to threaten anyone or encourage others to do so.
A Green Party spokesperson said it had been “obvious from the start” that no crime had been committed and accused Reform UK of using the issue for political purposes. Reform UK criticised the Met’s decision, saying it showed “two-tier Britain”.
Nigel Farage said earlier on Wednesday that Polanski, as a political leader with a large following, could not share an image involving his name and a guillotine “without some consequences”. He also said he had not received a private apology.
Polanski told BBC Newsnight that he would not apologise to Farage, saying he did not want to allow the issue to be presented as an admission of incitement. He said the repost had been a mistake, that he condemned political violence, and that he would seek to improve his use of social media.
