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The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, has said he would refuse to work with Keir Starmer but could work with Andy Burnham, Starmer’s potential rival for the Labour leadership, to keep Reform out of power.
Polanski said he would not enter a political partnership with Labour under the current prime minister, but would consider it if the mayor of Greater Manchester took the helm.
He told the Financial Times: “I could see the potential to work with Andy Burnham to stop Reform and to challenge the rise of the far right. I would rule it out with Keir Starmer, but I wouldn’t rule it out with Burnham.”
A coalition would require the Greens getting an adequate number of seats at the next general election to make the party useful to Labour, and would also need Burnham to once again gain a seat as an MP.
Polanski argued Labour’s plan for the economy was not working. He called for a wealth tax, as well as an increase in capital gains tax to bring it in line with income tax. “I am challenging a broken, failed economic model, and the people defending it have no answer other than just to continue with what is broken,” he said.
However, Gary Lineker defended the prime minister in an interview with Polanski, saying he had met Starmer “two or three times” and he “seemed a very nice guy”.
“I think he’s having a tough time. Obviously he’s not a hugely charismatic leader, but I don’t necessarily think that’s important,” the football pundit and TV presenter said.
Speaking on the podcast Bold Politics with Zack Polanski, Lineker also said there was “too much political influence from the very top” of the BBC, and the organisation had “tied itself up in knots” over impartiality.
The former Match of the Day presenter, who quit the BBC earlier this year, said he had a “great affinity” with the institution but: “I think they’ve got a little bit broad into this whole impartiality thing and I think that that makes it very, very difficult for them.”
Lineker said in recent years, impartiality had been expanded beyond news and current affairs and into the rest of the BBC. “Even though we’d been on social media for years, we were expected to suddenly change. And I thought that was difficult,” he said.
“Overall, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of people that work for the BBC that are really, really good people that do excellent jobs. But I think it’s tied itself up in knots a little bit with the impartiality thing because I think what we really need is truth and reporting, in that sense. It’s impossible to be impartial on everything.”
He added: “My personal issues, it was difficult, it was over a long period of time.”
Lineker said the way a government decided who was on the board of the BBC and who was chair should be done with more of a “neutral” perspective, because those brought in by politicians “will obviously be partial”.
“If they’re going to talk about impartiality, start at the top,” he said. “It’s incredibly difficult for the BBC, but I think at the moment there’s too much political influence from the very top.”
Polanski asked the presenter why he had been so outspoken about immigration.
Lineker said: “I know it’s an issue, immigration, I know it’s difficult, you can’t take everybody. But I think we should do our fair share and look after people.
“I have empathy towards their situation. I think there’s a small percentage that are the opposite, so I felt it was quite important to use my platform to perhaps speak on behalf of those that don’t have a voice.”
Though he had suffered a backlash online from the right, having been a footballer, “you learn to deal with abuse”. He said: “I took it as a compliment.”
In 2026, Lineker said, he wanted to see “proper peace” in Gaza.
“We’ve got a ceasefire but it’s not really a ceasefire at the moment,” he said. “I’ve spoken about this quite a bit and I look at my phone every day and I cry most days when I see it. I mean, innocent kids being just killed [with] snipers and bombs. It’s just immeasurably wrong.”
He added: “And of course Israel has the right to defend itself. But then why doesn’t Palestine have the right to defend itself? It doesn’t.”
Lineker, who has received criticism for talking about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, said: “People will disagree with this and they try and make an argument but I always say to them, if you genuinely think this is fabricated, let journalists in.”
