Dalit Haim

Producer- Journalist, views my own

[Sophy Ridge @SophyRidgeSky]

Massive moment

Keir Starmer: "Today I can announce this government will ban access to social media for all children under the age of 16"

[BBC News (World) @BBCWorld]

Warner Bros $111bn sale to Paramount approved by US Justice Department https://t.co/FWAMZfAMci

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

The best we have. Huge loss to all British media and esp @SkyNews
Huge coup @cbs @bariweiss

@TrevorPTweets

[Bari Weiss @bariweiss]

Thrilled to welcome @TrevorPTweets to @CBSNews.

[Ridge & Frost @RidgeandFrost]

'London will be less safe', says Sir Mark Rowley, after London mayor Sadiq Khan blocked a contract between Palantir and the Metropolitan police ⬇️

[New York Post @nypost]

CBS News boss Bari Weiss poised to oversee CNN editorial operations: report https://t.co/9TOb1jnX68

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Sky's @TrevorPTweets, a former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, says he feel "rage" because the Henry Nowak case is one of many examples of "misjudgements about people based on their race leading to a young life being cut short."

He shares three other examples ⬇️

[Sky News @SkyNews]

How close are we to a social media ban for under-16s?

Sky's people and politics correspondent @NickMartinSKY looks at the latest political lines ahead of a long-awaited decision on social media use for teenagers.

🔗Latest political news: https://t.co/Inxi6Okpp5

[Sky News @SkyNews]

'Any deal will be a good deal.

U.S. defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, addresses the reports of a deal to de-escalate the Iran war.

It comes as negotiators ‌from Washington and Tehran work to bridge major differences blocking an agreement.

Live updates: https://t.co/XGgZt7MhO8

[60 Minutes @60Minutes]

Sally Field memorized the First Amendment as a child. The Oscar winner says she now understands "it like never before," stressing that "this fragile thing called democracy needs to be protected."

[Sky News @SkyNews]

British Museum criticised for delaying Jewish event over protest fears https://t.co/2wyf1XZN8L

[Rob Powell @robpowellnews]

Hi Zack,

Happy to share the full transcript below for transparency. As ever, we're trying to cover a few different areas in a relatively short duration for the vid so not everything makes it in. I was keen to reference somewhere the explanations you provided though & my take that they showed some of stories were a bit overdone.

Cheers,

Rob

ROB POWELL: [14:18:53] I did want to ask you about whether you paid council tax when you were apparently living on a narrowboat, whether you, that was your permanent residence, whether you should have paid it and whether you did. [14:19:01][8.0]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:19:01] Well, it's still unclear in terms of the councillor saying that they don't know whether on that mooring people should be paying council tax or not. What I have said is, of course, if I owe any council tax, I'll absolutely pay it. And even if I don't know any council tax, I'll still donate the money to charity. This was a mistake. It's still not clear whether I've made the same mistake the council has made, and I'm still waiting for a clearer answer on that. [14:19:22][20.1]
ROB POWELL: [14:19:22] I mean, was that your permanent residence, though? [14:19:23][1.3]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:19:23] Yeah, I was living on the boat. And, what the council have said in public is that they think there's a statutory exemption on that Marina in terms of not paying council tax. Having said that, though, of course, if I owe any council tax, I will absolutely pay it. [14:19:34][10.7][40.2]
ROB POWELL: [14:19:34] I guess when inquiries were initially made about this story, I think a spokesperson said that you only stayed there occasionally. It was. Was that just a mistake or were you misleading journalists there? [14:19:43][8.9]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:19:44] No. By that point I've moved out and I am living in a house share. And so council tax is part of my House share agreement. But also I still have the boat as a leisure mooring. What I'd say.... [14:19:53][9.8]
ROB POWELL: [14:19:54] We were talking about the situation then, rather than the situation stretching back over a few years. [14:19:57][3.6]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:19:58] That's right. [14:19:58][0.2]
ROB POWELL: [14:19:58] That's what the statement to the Times newspaper was about? [14:20:00][1.7][24.2]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:20:00] Exactly. And what I'd say more widely, and I think this is a bit that hasn't been told in this way, is that two people have been arrested in the last couple of months in relation to anti-Semitic and indeed homophobic abuse towards me. In fact, in Manchester during the Gorton and Denton byelection, myself and a staff member were followed while being filmed and someone shouted Gay Jew at me. They were then arrested and once the newspaper started to print that I was living on a boat, lots of people started to turn up around the boat in a way that made me feel incredibly unsafe, and then moved to a house where paparazzi had turned up outside the house. Yeah, I think it's totally reasonable for journalists to ask me questions. I think it's important that I'm scrutinised. I do think it's also important, though, that politicians' public safety is regarded and considered. Now there's two operations for politicians. One is called Operation Ford and one is called Operation Bridget. Operation for this for councillors, operation Bridger is for MPs as a London Assembly member and a leader of a national party. There is a loophole where I've not fallen that any of these security arrangements for the Home Office are currently reviewing, and I'm in active conversation with them about it. But it is important to say, whilst all of this was going on, my safety was a concern and frankly, the safety of my partner too. [14:21:08][67.7]
ROB POWELL: [14:21:08] I appreciate it must be very, very difficult for you on the safety front. That sounds very stressful and a traumatic experience. I guess the reason why I'm bringing it up is not so much wanting to sort of get at your personal living situations. It's more a question around honesty. I was interested in that initial statement that the party put out saying you lived there occasionally, which didn't turn out to be true. The Party said that you voted in the local elections. That subsequently didn't turn out to be true either. There have been times in the past as well, where you talked about being a spokesperson for a charity, and that didn't turn out to be true. I guess what I'm getting at is it is less a question about your personal situation, and more a question about your honesty and integrity as a person and a politician, because these sorts of mishaps or inadvertent errors seem to follow you around a little bit. [14:21:52][43.7]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:21:52] Well, it's really important that I build trust with the public. It's also important that I'm very frank. I think there's been a targeted smear campaign. And let me explain what I mean by that. With the Red cross, for instance, it's very clear that I hosted fundraisers for the Red cross. In fact, I went on stage for them where they gave me scripts and I would speak for them. So I think to say I was a spokesperson was not particularly a lie. I think I could have been more accurate in the words I used and said I was an MC. They hosted fundraisers and spoke on their behalf. I accept that. I think also in terms of the time statement and the time that I gave a statement, the statement I was living in a house share. I didn't want to say that I lived on the boat because I've moved off the boat. And also, as I said, I was worried about my public safety. I understand when the media starts to put all of these things together. There's an easy narrative here to say he's not telling the truth, but what I would also say similarly, I think if you pick someone apart enough on kind of very, very minute things and trivial things, you can start to paint a picture of someone that isn't true. And I accept people don't just have to take my word for that. I think they should look at my record and my record as a London Assembly member and indeed as leader of the Green Party, where I've had a history of standing up for marginalised groups, I have a history of living true to my values, both with environmental, social, racial and economic justice. So I totally accept it. And this is where there's a tightrope to walk. It's right that I'm scrutinised. It's right that I'm asked questions, but also the disproportionality of which I'm scrutinised, and a council tax bill, for instance. But it still turns out I might not even know, has been scrutinised compared to the £5 million of Nigel Farage, for instance. [14:23:18][86.2]
ROB POWELL: [14:23:19] I mean, that came to light because of journalistic scrutiny as well. And Nigel Farage is being scrutinised. Can you really say you're being subjected to anything more than any party political leader in, you know, on top of a party that looks to be in its ascendancy and is doing very well? Isn't that just a relevant amount of scrutiny you're being subject to which Nigel Farage is being subject to on the right wing as well? [14:23:38][19.5]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:23:38] I think I can say very clearly that if you compare the scrutiny that I receive compared to what Reform receives, it's incredibly disproportionate. Now, in the same breath, I should receive scrutiny, as should Nigel Farage. But far too often we see with right wing politicians, we're talking about £5 million here compared to a council. [14:23:55][17.0]
ROB POWELL: [14:23:56] In which we journalists are investigating and publishing new stories about. It's not, you know, it was revealed because of journalistic inquiry as well. [14:24:03][6.3]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:24:03] Well, so let me give you another example. I think Labour together, you know, and Josh Simons, it turns out that he potentially, allegedly hired a private investigator to investigate. [14:24:11][8.0]
ROB POWELL: [14:24:12] The story, which was revealed by a newspaper and journalist. [14:24:14][2.0]
ZACK POLANSKI: [14:24:14] But I imagine if we walked through this park, most people don't know about that story, but other stories get pushed very, very heavily. And we do know that there's an agenda here with media organisations, not all media organisations, but I'm a politician that wants to tax multi-millionaires and billionaires. I want to challenge wealth and power in this country. And some media organisations hold that wealth and power. Now, I also want to say, and this is really important, journalism is a noble profession. There are journalists who are losing their lives all around the world to report in warzones and indeed who are rightly scrutinising politicians. So this isn't binary in terms of one person should be asked questions and one person shouldn't be asked questions. But what I am saying is, I think the way that the Red cross story was reported, for instance, I think most people, when they hear the full story goes, that's pretty unfair. That wasn't quite right. Let me give you another example. The Ministry of Justice, I think it was the times reported the story. If I hadn't ever worked on the Ministry of Justice, I was employed by an agency, where I worked inside the Ministry of Justice building. Did I directly work for Ministry of Justice? No. Did I ever said I did? No, I said I worked for the Ministry of Justice. So again, I just think there's ways of picking apart what someone saying and presenting them as misleading or presenting them as a liar, when actually, I think I'm being very frank, I'm being very transparent and I'm agreeing I should be asked questions. But I also think it's fair enough as a politician to push back to and say, actually, there is. That does feel like there's a disproportionality in how politicians on the left are treated compared to on the right. And the very final thing I'd say on that is I've mentioned my personal safety to you, and I was pleased, you know, you recognise that that is an issue. But the fact that there's still paparazzi turning up outside my door just feels disproportionate, as opposed to the fact I'm often in public. I often advertise where I'm going in public. So if journalists want to ask me questions, they can come to ask me questions. I'm not sure what turning up outside the house share where I'm renting is for public conversation. I know you've not done that, but it's just a wider point I'd make. [14:25:59][104.8]
ROB POWELL: [14:25:59] Okay, Zack Polanski. Thank you. [14:26:01][1.2][158.8]
(ENDED)

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Almost a million young people have been locked out of work, education and training, a new report commissioned by the government has found.

Sky's Phoebe Southworth spoke to 16 to 24-year-olds in Dudley about the issue ⬇️

Read more: https://t.co/Dw0zmhbyoo

[Ridge & Frost @RidgeandFrost]

The UK is at risk of a ‘lost generation’ with the number of young people not in education, employment or training, and it is set to rise to 1.25 million unless urgent action is taken.

@SophyRidgeSky & @WilfredFrost consider what can be done to solve this

https://t.co/gcGQwoFrPP

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Iranian state television is reporting what it calls an "initial unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding" between Iran and the U.S.

Middle East commentator @tarakangarlou has the latest on this story

https://t.co/fqaUQalVvw

[Deborah Haynes @haynesdeborah]

BREAKING: Almost half a million Russian soldiers have been killed since Vladimir Putin launched his war in Ukraine, Anne Keast-Butler, the director of the UK spy agency GCHQ, has revealed in an inaugural lecture. She says this figure is based on “new intelligence”.
"As we remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine, Putin is going backwards on the battlefield," Ms Keast-Butler says, speaking at Bletchley Park

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Survivors and the families of victims of the Nova music festival massacre hope a new exhibition will confront some of the denial they say they've encountered since the attack.

Warning: This report from Sky's Katie Spencer contains distressing content.

https://t.co/xaJunDxJOq

[Dominic Waghorn @DominicWaghorn]

None of that is ok at all. Seems crazy that we have to say that but in a world where bots, algorithms and bad faith actors strive constantly to divide us we really do and the more the better.

[Dominic Waghorn @DominicWaghorn]

This week's events in Golders Green and others have been profoundly shocking but so's the reality of life now for so many of our Jewish fellow Brits. Having to live in fear, pretend you're not Jewish ffs, ring your schools and synagogues with security...1/

[Hadley Freeman @HadleyFreeman]

Today in Golders Green, a stabbing
Monday in Golders Green, an arson attack https://t.co/ZI8CwQ53Sd

But by all means, Zack Polanski, please keep talking about how this is just "a perception of unsafety" and you know best "as a Jewish party leader"