Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has requested that the Metropolitan Police arrest Green Party leader Zack Polanski after Polanski shared an Instagram image depicting a guillotine graphic referencing Farage.
The post, from a July 26 Green Party rally in Bristol, showed an activist wearing a T-shirt featuring a guillotine with the phrase, "We're only making plans for Nigel."
Polanski shared it to his 700,000 Instagram followers via a co-author collaboration feature.
Farage said he escalated the matter to both law enforcement and the London Assembly, where Polanski serves as an elected member.
"It is beyond belief. It is inciteful and I will be demanding that Mr Polanski is arrested.
If I had done that, I would have been arrested and I would deserve to be," Farage said.
The incident occurred weeks after the murder of Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe in her Devon home.
Reform UK has since sought higher parliamentary security budgets after receiving hundreds of death threats.
Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf expressed outrage at the timing. "To do this just two weeks after our friend Ann was murdered is staggering.
This is incitement to murder and it should be treated as such by the police," Yusuf said.
Former government adviser on political violence Lord Walney called for serious consequences.
"There must be serious consequences for Zack Polanski after he shared material implying the assassination of another politician," Lord Walney said.
He added that the Green Party should be barred from participating alongside mainstream parties if it fails to take action against its leader.
A spokesperson for Polanski said the Green Party leader unshared the post immediately after learning about the controversial shirt visual.
"Once this image was brought to his attention, he immediately unshared the post. He unequivocally does not support this type of dangerous message," the spokesperson said.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they received a third-party report on July 27 and are conducting enquiries.
"We take reports of this nature extremely seriously, and officers are conducting enquiries into the matter," a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, MP Kate Osborne accused Reform UK of contributing to political rhetoric, citing an attack on Berlin Pride where one person died and 29 were injured.
She said, "We see these patterns emerging across Europe, an escalation of hate, verbal attacks online act as a catalyst for real-world physical violence."
Farage rejected Osborne's characterization, calling it "dangerous, inciteful and deeply ignorant."
He added, "This is inciting people to believe false and dangerous ideas about Reform that may well endanger Reform politicians."
