Afternoon summary
David Lammy, the deputy PM, was heckled and booed by some of the crowd as he addressed a vigil close to the scene of the Manchester synagogue attack. As Donna Ferguson reports on our Manchester synagogue attack live blog, after Lammy took to the stage he faced calls of “shame on you”, “go to Palestine, leave us alone”, “you’ve allowed it to grow on the campuses” and “you have blood on your hands”.
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Polanski argues for peace through diplomacy, saying he does not agree 'strength comes from might'
In his Radio 5 Live interview Zack Polanski was asked how the Greens would defend the UK given his support for leaving Nato.
He said he was not arguing for leaving Nato “right now”. His argument was that under Donald Trump the US was not a reliable partner, and so it was time for UK to work with its European neighbours on security.
Matt Chorley put it to him that, without relying on the US, and without having a nuclear deterrent, Britain would not be able to stop Russia invading European countries.
Polanski replied:
That’s why we have to start from first principles. And I think the first principle is looking how do we build peace and diplomacy in the world.
I just disagree with Keir Starmer that strength comes from might. That’s actually how you have an arms race. And we’ve been dangerously close in this country and in the world before to literally complete annihilation and utter destruction.
So I think the first place to start, from first principles is, how do we de-escalate? How do we neutralise existing threats and threats that are growing quicker? And I think we do that through dialogue.
Polanski cited the ANC in South Africa, the civil rights movement in the US, and the peace process in Northern Ireland as examples of how “sworn enemies” could make peace.
