Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Barely a month since his election as the Green Party leader, Zack Polanski signalled his intent to use a bolder political strategy than his predecessors - by mounting a strongly-worded attack on his political opponents during today's conference speech.

The brunt of the criticism in Polanski's feisty address was directed at Keir Starmer's Labour government. He accused it of overseeing "managed decline" of the nation and deemed Starmer's recent recognition of a Palestinian state as one of the "most deeply cynical and morbid acts" he'd seen in his lifetime.

Reform UK were also in the line of fire, with Polanski branding Nigel Farage a "Trump-loving, tax-avoiding... corporate stooge".

Image source, PA Media

Polanski proposed a ream of policy measures, from a wealth tax on the wealthiest 1% in the UK to an end to private water companies.

The Labour Party should no longer assumed it is "entitled" to people's votes, he said, ending his speech with a declaration that "the Green Party's moment is now".

We're about to end our live coverage, but you can continue reading about the latest from the Green Party conference in Bournemouth with these stories:

• Tax wealthiest to end rip-off Britain, says Green leader
• Watch: "We will say it loud... migrants and refugees are welcome here," Polanski says
• Green leader Zack Polanski backs legalisation of all drugs

Sam Francis
Political reporter, reporting from the conference

"The speech was great,” says Green Party member John Mary-Odoy.

He’s going to be very good to the party," he adds.

John Mary-Odoy says the new leader is right to talk about things that will bring people together to live in harmony.

Lots of people joining the Greens since Polanski took over “just proves it”, he also says.

Sam Francis
Political reporter, reporting from the conference

Green Councillor Cate James-Hodges says Zack Polanski could be the “missing piece” for the Green Party.

But having seen Polanski speak, she says he makes things “easy to understand” and “makes you feel sort of something”.

She now has high hopes for the next election. It’s “really exiting to open the next chapter,” she says.

Image source, PA Media

As we've been reporting, Green Party leader Zack Polanski has just been addressing his party's conference in Bournemouth. His speech came only a month after being elected as the party's new leader.

If you're just joining us, or are in need of a quick catch up, here are some of the key points from his speech:

• Strong criticism of Labour: Polanski has accused the current government of overseeing a policy of "managed decline" that would see the UK handed to Reform UK "on a plate"
• On a wealth tax: Polanski has advocated for a tax on the wealthiest 1% in society, as a measure to reduce inequality
• On the Israel-Gaza war: He says his party "will not be silent" when "mass slaughter is happening in Palestine", and has called for an end to arms sales, and intelligence sharing, with Israel

• On immigration: "Migrants and refugees are welcome here," Polanski has declared, reflecting on his family's journey to the UK from Latvia

• On privatisation: The Green Party leader has called for an end to the "failed privatisation experiment", pledging to put water in "public hands"
• On climate policy: Polanski has argued that the climate crisis, and the cost of living crisis, are the same thing. He calls for policies to tackle both

Polanski is fired up as he reaches the conclusion of his speech. He says his party is "not messing around" and adds "we are here and we are ready to win", which gains him a standing ovation.

He speaks about visiting a bakery in London that employs people who have recently left prison, and a story about a man stuck with him.

It was the man's first day out of prison, Polanski says, and he came to work a little late, overwhelmed. He turned up to a cup of tea, a "simple act of kindness, from one strange to another," Polanski explains.

"That's what this country is, when it's at its best, and that matters today of all days," he adds.

"This May is huge. Hateful, divisive politics will be on the ballot paper. We can and we must reject that."

"The Green Party's moment is now. We are ready... let's go," he says, to another applause, ending his speech as music comes on.

He says an incredibly important set of elections are coming up in a few months' time.

Get ready for some bold politics, he says, and goes on to say the party is trying to win its first ever directly-elected mayor in Hackney.

We're campaigning to win more seats in more places than ever before, he says, adding that will also be the case at the next general election.

Sam Francis
Political reporter

The conferences of other parties this year have mostly focused how to tackle an insurgent Reform UK.

But Green Party leader Zack Polanski is making a clear play for Labour voters in this speech.

Labour are responsible for the “managed decline” of the country, he says.

Polanski gets a huge applause when he says “Labour’s arrogant assumptions that it is entitled to people’s vote ends today”.

And if “Reform can rocket through the polls with a politics of despair – then it’s time for the Green Party to do the same with a politics of hope,” he says.

Continuing his criticism of Prime Minister Starmer's Labour Party, Polanski says it will "hand this country on a plate" to Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage.

It's time for the Green's to be bold, he adds.

Labour councillors are defecting and ex-Labour voters are joining the Greens, Polanski says - citing these as evidence that this is a "moment of change".

Labour has long made "arrogant assumptions" that it is entitled to people's votes, he says: "Those assumptions end today".

Polanski says the climate crisis is also the cost of living crisis and adds "it is hitting our poorest communities hardest".

"Food inflation is made worse by climate breakdown," he says.

He goes over Labour energy policies, including airport expansions and plans for "exploring new ways to drill".

"Its politics is one of managed decline and it's dressed up in this weird national renewal, and draped up in Reform-baiting policymaking."

Polanski mentions Palestine Action, saying its proscription under the Terrorism Act must be withdrawn.

He also criticises the legislation being used to arrest hundreds of protesters "for simply holding up a sign".

The Green leader accuses Labour of cracking down on civil liberties and warns plans for digital IDs are likely to discriminate against minorities, saying the alarm bells of authoritarianism are "ringing loud and clear". It’s down to his party to take a stand, he adds.

“We will do everything in our power to protect both our privacy and defend our juries,” he says.

Turning now to the war in Gaza, Polanski says "we will not be silent" when "mass slaughter is happening in Palestine".

We won't be silent when governments try to silence dissent, he says.

"And when Keir Starmer, in one of the most deeply cynical and morbid acts I've seen in my lifetime, decides to recognise a Palestinian state at the same moment that his government is an active participant in the murdering of Palestinians, then we will never be silent," he says to loud applause.

Polanski calls for an end to arms sales in Israel, and an end to intelligence sharing.

"We will do everything we can to stop the genocide," he says.

Last month a UN commission of inquiry said Israel has committed a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It cited statements by Israeli leaders, and the pattern of conduct by Israeli forces, as evidence of genocidal intent. Israel has denounced the report as “distorted and false”.

Polanski says he is under "no illusion as to the threat we face", he says there is "no easy way forwards" and refers again to his trip to Clacton on his first day as leader.

He says if Reform can rocket through the polls with a politics of despair - then it’s time for the Green Party to do the same thing but with a politics of hope.

Polanski next speaks about the Manchester synagogue attack yesterday.

"As a Jewish man raised in north Manchester, I feel this deeply and my heart is with the community," he says.

He talks about the role of immigration in his own story and the story of the his deputy leaders.

"We will say it loud, we will say it clear, migrants and refugees are welcome here,” the Green Party leader says.

Wealth a clear theme so farpublished at 13:57 BST 3 October

13:57 BST 3 October

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, at the conference

Green leader speeches in the past would have focused largely on climate change and environmentalism.

But it’s clear early on in this speech that wealth is a key theme.

Zack Polanski described the UK as “a country where a tiny few have taken our power and wealth”.

That’s part of his pitch for a wealth tax that he says would help to solve the cost of living crisis.

He added: “Things must change. It’s time to take it back” - a phrase that clearly has echoes of the famous Vote Leave slogan, ‘Take Back Control’.

It’s clear too who Polanski believes the country needs to be taken back from.

He talked about “a political class poisoned by extreme wealth” and “a tiny few have taken our power”.

This is the sort of punchier, noisier political rhetoric that Polanski thinks the Greens have failed at in the past and promised to introduce when he won the leadership contest a month ago.

Polanski now references a comment made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer earlier this week, that a wealth tax isn't the answer to everything.

The Green Party leader rejects the idea that anyone has claimed it is.

It's time for a party that will tax the assets of the 1% and reduce inequality, he says.

He wants a country with universal free childcare, funding for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) education, rural bus routes, and climate investment, he continues.

"That's how we have a country we can all afford to live in," he says.

Continuing on tax, Polanski says taxing the wealthiest "is only the beginning".

"We must also end the failed privatisation experiment" which will save money and stop it being used to line "pockets of shareholders", he adds.

"Water in public hands. Clean rivers. Cheaper bills.

"And ending rip off Britain does mean taxing the wealthiest to make Britain a country that everyone can afford."

Polanski talks about going to Clacton - Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's constituency in Essex - where he says he heard the same story of neglect and detachment from decision making over and over again.

He attacks an economic model he says is built on austerity and privatisation, and says his party is here to "break the shackles of poverty and hardship that lock so many in".

"We will end rip off Britain," he says, and "we will make sure that the very wealthiest pay more tax".

This country has so much going for it, Zack Polanski is now saying.

But it's been "failed" repeatedly by a "political class poisoned by extreme wealth".

He starts reeling off examples "you can see everyday" of this: a rise in rough sleeping, or the number of renters who are "one paycheque" from losing their home among others.

Polanski says that things have to change: "It's time to take it back".

Polanski reflects on when he became leader. He says a journalist asked him: "Why did I look so sick as the results were announced?"

"For a second I thought I could pretend that’s not how I felt. Or, I could do the unique thing that the Green Party does - tell the truth," he says.

Polanski admitted he felt sick, and when asked why, he said it was because of the "enormity of the task ahead".

"A failing Government. A country where millions and millions of people are struggling to afford the basics.

"The far right on the march."

Zack Polanski begins by speaking about winning the race to become Green Party leader a month ago.

It's an "immense privilege" to have been made leader, he says, adding it's also been busy.

"We said we’d build this movement, and that’s exactly what we’re all doing," he says.

This is the Green Party's hour, he says, calling on people to join.