UK Column News — 9th October 2026

Mike Robinson (0:15)

Good afternoon, it's Friday, the 9th of October, 2026, just after one o'clock. Welcome to UK Column News. I'm your host, Mike Robinson. Joining me in the studio today is Patrick Henningsen. And by video link, we have Basil Valentine, as usual, who welcomes the programme both.

Patrick Henningsen (0:28)

It's great to be with you, Mike.

Mike Robinson (0:29)

Now, later in the programme, we're good to have...

Well, we're going to be looking at the Russian threat. We're going to be looking at RAF Marham and what's been going on there. We've got to begin today with the by-election, I think. So let's bring the result on screen. So Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali, a good British name there, has claimed victory in the Holborn and St. Patrick's Pancras by-election, retaining the seat previously held by Keir Stormer. Zach Polanski, as you can see, polled quite well for the Greens. The Tories came a distant third with Reform and fourth, and I guess they had their votes split by Restore taking part as well. George Galloway ended up well down the list with only 314 votes. Basil, let's welcome you to the programme. What are your thoughts on the by-election result, first of all?

Basil Valentine (1:20)

Well, in any normal cycle, it would be regarded as a very good result for the Greens. They massively increased their share of the vote and turned the constituency effectively into a marginal. You've got to remember as well, of course, that Labour are still enjoying the Burnham bounce.

But that's not the way it's been portrayed in national media. The leader of the Jewish Greens has called on Polanski to resign. He was rounded upon last night by Caroline Lucas on Newsnight. Anyone would think this was a real crisis for Polanski. A really strange interpretation of the result. I mean, it would have been absolutely stunning if he had actually pulled off a win, because Stammer, of course, had a relatively comfortable majority. So, you know, the hysteria that has accompanied the votes by the Green Party to declare Zionism racism, and we've got a report on the Green Party conference coming up, has just caused a sort of establishment meltdown of the kind we've never seen before. The outcome of last night's debate on Newsnight, where supposedly different opinions were voiced, is that basically you have to be a supporter of Zionism to lead a British political party. There's a very, very clear concerted attempt to marginalize opposition to Zionism as simply a fringe belief. All this while only last night, Gaza was heavily bombed again.

People burned alive in tents every night. This doesn't even cause a ripple in national or global media. We're in a very dark place, gentlemen.

Mike Robinson (3:13)

Yeah, we are. It was fascinating, Patrick, because Basil is going to introduce the Green Party Conference in a second. But following that vote in the Green Party Conference, the Green MPs that are in the House of Commons were very, very keen to distance themselves from that result.

Patrick Henningsen (3:32)

Well, this is the only thing that comes to mind immediately. And we'll talk about it after Basil's report is Polanski did the opposite of what Corbyn did when they came for him. He absolutely charged against his attackers. And personally, based on what we were seeing from the conference, and you'll see more of it in a minute, I think that was the right decision, quite frankly, but we'll let the people be the judge.

Mike Robinson (3:57)

So, Basil, you went to the Green Party Conference last weekend. We have a report from you here, but just give us an introduction to that.

Basil Valentine (4:07)

Yes, I always enjoy these kinds of things, big gatherings of people, lots of talk. It really was the epicentre of political theatre last weekend, big Zionist demonstration outside on the first day, the Saturday, but they got the wrong day. They thought that that was when the vote was going to be taken. They had all been bussed down from London and caught the train and what have you. Turns out the big vote was actually on Sunday. They were very, to be honest, aggressive in the way they approached delegates on their way into the conference. I was expecting an even bigger demonstration the following day on the Sunday when the vote was taken, but it was serene delegates just filing in quietly and peacefully. And let's see my report from the conference now coming up.

So as you can see here on the key day, Sunday the 4th of October, just after 10am, and delegates are queuing up in near total silence. No demonstration, no counter demonstration. This is democracy at work in the Green Party.