Nigel Farage has rejected Zack Polanski’s request for a one-on-one debate.
This week, the Green Party leader challenged Farage to a face-to-face debate ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election, where the Greens and Reform are predicted to be the two main challengers.
Reform UK had suggested that Polanski could go up against the party’s head of policy Zia Yusuf, who he has sparred with in the past.
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However, Polanski said he was only interested in a leader-to-leader debate, writing in a post on X: “As I keep saying, I would be more than happy to debate, leader to leader, with Nigel Farage.”
He added “I’m starting to get the impression he might not be keen?”
Well, Polanski was spot on.
Speaking at a press event on Tuesday, Farage confirmed he would be swerving Polanski’s challenge.
When asked if he was going to take Polanski up on his offer, Farage replied: “No, I genuinely find that if you pick a fight with a chimney sweep you get covered in soot, so I might just leave that alone.
“And that’s the nearest to an insult I’ll ever come!”
“But he’s got a fan club – all the heroin smokers and everything,” he added.
In response, Polanski has accused Farage of “running scared.”
Speaking to HuffPost UK, the Green leader said Farage “doesn’t want to talk about Reform’s super-rich backers, their Russia links, their plans to strip rights away from working people and to introduce charges to use the NHS.”