**🚨 BREAKING: “Absolute Outrage!” — Starmer Faces Pressure Amid Claims Zack Polanski Is Influencing the Debate ⚡**

Westminster is once again engulfed in furious controversy after senior Labour figures and opposition MPs accused Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski of “undue influence” over key elements of the Government’s migration and asylum policy. The claims — first aired publicly by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during a Sky News interview this morning — have triggered a wave of condemnation, emergency statements from Downing Street and growing calls for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to clarify the extent of external input into Labour’s legislative programme.

The row centres on the Nationality and Borders Bill (Amendment) Regulations 2026 — a set of secondary measures laid before Parliament last week that significantly tighten rules around asylum claims based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics inside and outside Labour say the wording mirrors almost verbatim language used by Polanski in a series of Green Party policy papers and public statements between 2023 and 2025.

Farage, speaking on the Sunrise programme, held up printed copies of both documents side by side:

“Look at this. Paragraph 4.2 of the Government regulation: ‘Claims based solely on membership of a particular social group defined by sexual orientation or gender identity will be subject to heightened credibility assessment unless corroborated by objective country-of-origin information.’ Now look at Zack Polanski’s 2024 Green Party migration paper, page 17: identical wording, down to the phrase ‘heightened credibility assessment’. This is not coincidence — this is copy-and-paste policymaking. Zack Polanski is writing Labour’s migration rules from the outside. Absolute outrage!”

The allegation gained traction within minutes. By 10:30 a.m. the phrase “Zack Polanski writing Labour policy” was trending #1 on X, with more than 1.4 million posts. Screenshots comparing the texts circulated rapidly, and several Labour MPs — speaking anonymously — told The Times and BBC they had “raised concerns internally” about the similarity during recent policy seminars.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was forced to respond during an urgent question session at 12:45 p.m. She rejected the claim of external authorship:

“The regulations were drafted by Home Office officials, subjected to full legal and policy scrutiny, and approved by ministers. Suggestions that a member of another party is dictating Government policy are baseless and frankly absurd. We will not be diverted by partisan point-scoring.”

The denial did little to calm the storm. Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the chamber:

“If the Home Secretary is correct, then the Green Party owes the British taxpayer a refund for the thousands of pounds spent on consultants to produce what is apparently identical text. If she is incorrect, then we have a serious case of improper influence over Government legislation. Either way, the Prime Minister must come to the dispatch box and explain.”

Reform UK has now tabled an emergency motion calling for the publication of all correspondence between Government departments and external stakeholders (including Green Party officials) relating to the regulations. The motion has secured support from 17 Conservative backbenchers and is expected to force a vote later this week.

Public reaction has been swift and polarised. A YouGov snap poll conducted this afternoon shows:

– 59% of Britons believe it is “concerning” that Government policy text matches opposition-party documents
– 64% want an independent inquiry into the drafting process
– Among 2024 Labour voters, 41% say the allegations make them “less likely” to support the party at the next election

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisted this morning: “The Government’s policies are developed by ministers and civil servants. Any suggestion of improper external influence is completely without foundation.”

Behind the scenes, however, Labour sources admit the row is “damaging and distracting” at a moment when the party is already under pressure over the WASPI pension scandal, cost-of-living measures and policing controversies. One senior figure told The Guardian: “We thought we had neutralised the Greens by taking a tougher line on asylum. Instead it looks like we’re letting them write the script. Optics are terrible.”

Zack Polanski has not yet commented publicly. Green Party sources say he is “considering his response” but is likely to reject any suggestion of improper influence. One aide told BBC News: “Zack has been making these arguments for years. If Labour has finally caught up, that’s progress — not plagiarism.”

For Sir Keir Starmer — already facing plummeting approval ratings and growing calls for his resignation — the controversy arrives at the worst possible time. With Reform UK now polling within four points of Labour in the Midlands and a string of difficult by-elections looming, the Prime Minister must decide whether to ignore the row, order an internal review, or confront the allegations head-on.

One thing is already clear: a four-minute Commons exchange about pavement prayers has morphed into a full-blown political crisis.

And the question now being asked in every newsroom and WhatsApp group across Britain is brutally simple:

Who is really writing Labour’s migration policy?

Until that question is answered convincingly, the pressure on Keir Starmer will only grow.