Zia Yusuf challenges Zack Polanski to head-to-head TV debate in explosive open letter

Reform UK’s policy chief suggested the Green Party leader could choose the moderator

Reform UK’s policy chief Zia Yusuf has challenged Green Party leader Zack Polanski to a head-to-head TV debate in Greater Manchester next week.

Mr Yusuf, who sent a 437-word letter to Mr Polanski tonight, proposed a head-to-head debate just hours after the Green Party leader claimed it was racist for drugs to be illegal.

In his open letter, Mr Yusuf suggested the pair could take time away from the campaign trail ahead of the Gorton & Denton by-election to take part in the televised debate.

“There is a by-election in Manchester where there is a weight of expectation that you will challenge Reform at the ballot box,” Mr Yusuf wrote.

“I will be there this coming Thursday, and I will even let you choose a moderator of your choice.”

However, Mr Yusuf also used his letter to congratulate Mr Polanski on his surge in the polls.

The Green Party languished in a distant fifth place before Mr Polanski won the race to replace Adrian Ramsey and Carla Denyer last August.

A recent opinion poll conducted by Find Out Now suggests the Green Party is now in second, soaring to 19 per cent.

Zack Polanski has accused Nigel Farage of being a ‘fascist’ | PA

Continuing his letter, Mr Yusuf said: “To think, it was just a few short years ago you were forging a career trying to convince women you could enlarge their breasts by hypnotising them.

“You have said you are here to ‘replace Labour’. Given Labour is the party of government, you owe it to the public to engage seriously on the substantive detail of your policy platform.

“Your party ‘wants to see a world without borders’ and makes clear that ‘migration is not a criminal offence under any circumstances’.

“In supporting unlimited immigration and therefore the invasion of the United Kingdom by anyone who chooses to arrive on our beaches, you owe it to the British people to explain what impact this would have on their lives.”

READ IN FULL: Zia Yusuf’s open letter to Zack Polanski

Reform UK’s policy chief added: “You declared you would destroy Britain’s nuclear deterrent, while Vladimir Putin marauds through Ukraine.

“When challenged on how you would do this by Trevor Phillips, you said you would simply ask Putin to give up his weapons too.

“Given your prior attempts at hypnosis were unsuccessful, the British people deserve a clear understanding of what methods you would use to bewitch Putin into doing such a thing.

“You say the rich do not pay enough tax. Yet your appearance on The Rest is Politics betrayed the fact you did not even know what the top rate of income tax is.

Zia Yusuf suggested the pair could take a step away from the Gorton & Denton by-election campaign to take part in the debate | GETTY

“You did not know the difference between the national debt and the deficit. You seek to upend the British economy while wielding the economic knowledge of a GCSE student.

“You have said you wish to outlaw landlords and legalise all drugs. In your version of Britain, it is legal to buy crack cocaine, heroin and fentanyl but illegal to rent out your flat.

“Again, the British people deserve to understand how they can expect their children to be safe from the dangers of hard drugs should you achieve your goals.”

Mr Yusuf last locked horns with Mr Polanski in October 2025, with the pair appearing on BBC Question Time.

The Green Party has surged in the polls since election of leader Zack Polanski (right) | PA

Mr Polanski labelled Mr Yusuf a “fascist” during a particularly heated exchange.

The self-styled Green populist said: “Nigel Farage, he joined forces with the Swedish Democrats in the European Parliament.

“This is a far-right Nazi group. They want to deport people not based on the colour of his skin, but from the places that they’ve come from.

“This is racism. It’s fascism and we should call it out.”

Mr Yusuf replied: [Mr Polanski] literally made money by charging women on the promise that he could literally enlarge the size of their breasts by hypnotizing them.

“In Polanski’s version of Britain, it is legal to sell fentanyl, crack cocaine and heroin, but illegal to rent your flat out.”