Labour accuses Greens of ‘manipulating’ Muslim voters

Cabinet minister claims Zack Polanksi’s party is ‘whipping up hatred’ in run-up to Gorton and Denton by-election Daily Telegraph 25/02/26 Labour has accused the Green Party of “manipulating” Muslim voters and stirring up hatred on the eve of the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Senior Labour figures rebuked Zack Polanski’s party over campaign materials written in Urdu that tell Muslims to “punish Labour for Gaza”. The ballot in Gorton and Denton is set to take place on Thursday, and new polling suggests there could be a single percentage point between Labour, the Greens and Reform UK. Just under 40 per cent of Gorton’s population is Muslim, making it fertile ground for the Greens, while the white working class is dominant in Denton, meaning the area has more potential for Reform. Green Party campaign leaflets in both English and Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, feature a picture of Hannah Spencer, the party’s candidate, wearing a keffiyeh – a scarf associated with Palestinian territories – draped over her shoulders while she poses in front of a mosque Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, said: “The Green campaign is becoming increasingly desperate and has been characterised by misinformation with dodgy bar charts, selective quoting of academics and now a shameful attempt to manipulate the respected Muslim community. What do Greens say? “Voting Green let Reform win in Runcorn [and Helsby]. Voters here are more alive to that threat every day … Labour is the only serious contender that will beat Reform.” A senior Cabinet minister told The Times: “The Greens are whipping up hatred and deliberately raising the salience of Gaza. They’re hammering us. “They’re a totally different party to the one we thought they were. They’re just like Respect – it’s like fighting a by-election against George Galloway.” In response, Ms Spencer accused Labour of being “happy to weaponise racism and division” during the by-election campaign. The Green candidate said: “It’s disappointing to see Labour resort to racist dogwhistles and the desperate claim that issuing campaign materials in languages other than English is ‘whipping up hatred’. “I will be an MP for the whole of Gorton and Denton, and I’m proud that we’re demonstrating that by speaking to constituents in the languages they speak.” Labour’s Muslim vote has been in free-fall in recent years. More than four in five Muslims are thought to have voted for Labour in the 2019 general election, but research just before the 2024 national poll suggested this had dropped to just over 60 per cent. The Greens have exploited this by outflanking Labour on the war in Gaza, demanding a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas. The party is also set to vote on making support for Palestinian “resistance” part of its policy at its spring conference. Ms Spencer On Wednesday, the third opinion poll of the contest predicted Labour and the Greens would tie at 28 per cent of the vote. Reform was on track to trail both parties on 27 per cent of support, according to the survey of 401 people, which was representative of the constituency. Among those who said they were at least 70 per cent likely to vote, the Greens rose to 30 per cent, with Reform and Labour in joint second on 28 per cent. Labour and the Greens have both campaigned on the claim that they are the only party capable of beating Reform at the ballot box on Thursday. The by-election is crucial for Sir Keir Starmer, whose premiership was nearly brought to an end by the Lord Mandelson scandal. This week the Government confirmed the first tranche of documents about Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US would be published after the by-election, at the beginning of next month.is up against Angeliki Stogia, the Labour hopeful and a former councillor, and Matthew Goodwin, the Reform contender and a former academic who is now a political commentator and GB News presenter. n an intervention on Tuesday night, Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, claimed Reform would “force children back into poverty” if they won power. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s “shadow chancellor”, pledged last week to reinstate the two-child benefit cap in full. Rachel Reeves has announced Labour will abolish the limit this spring. The two-child benefit cap, which was introduced by the Tories in 2017, stopped parents from claiming child tax credits or Universal Credit for their third child or any subsequent children. Writing in The Mirror, Mr Brown said: “When voters go to the polls in Gorton and Denton on Thursday, the fate of more than 6,000 local children is in their hands. These are the boys and girls who will benefit on April 1 from the abolition of the hated two-child rule. “This by-election offers a choice. To help children continue to escape poverty with Labour’s brilliant local candidate Angeliki Stogia or go back to the Tory poverty years with Reform.”