There are huge issues with the Green Party and we need to ask questions about why populism works, when being decent and hard working doesn't. It's also really clear that parties should not be allowed to expand from 4 mps to trying to take every Council because they do not have the governance to vet candidates or manage behaviour.
We also need to ask why a populist style leader has made the Greens into an electoral force being talked about when the likes of Caroline Lucas didn't. If we want serious, ethically driven leaders we need to work out why we don't vote for them.
However, it's also really important to fact check. Hadley's article references ZP minimising the attacks on Jewish people as perception. I've actually watched the full video. He explicitly talks about several physical attacks on Jewish people and is very clear that the physical threat is real and rising. He talks about perception of safety as a separate issue, that there is a narrative designed to make Jewish people feel less safe than they are - and that that, in itself, is an antisemitic attack. I think that's a point worth discussing because that's the point of terrorism, isn't it? That's why the IRA sometimes phoned in false bomb threats, sometimes bombed those evacuating, sometimes gave genuine warnings. They want you to feel unsafe.
There are serious concerns about populism on both sides and with the fact that the traditional mainstream parties seem over influenced by them. i dont want party leaders tweeting about Churchill being replaced by a Badger, or personally attacking opponents. I want the actual grown ups to be in charge.
However, the only way to tackle populism is to change the tone of the conversation and focus on facts over soundbites. Saying a party leader is evil and would have aligned with Hitler is one for the echo chamber.