Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the UK Green Party, secured a full apology and damages on Friday from right-wing commentators after they accused him of taking part in riots in his ward, vowing to The New Arab that he will keep fighting against “lies and smears”.
GB News presenter Alex Armstrong and social media commentator Bernadette Spofforth on X accused Ali in 2024 of “taking part” in the Harehills riots, a night of disorder over police supporting social workers who were removing four children from a family home over safeguarding concerns.
Ali, who sits on Leeds City Council, took the commentators to court for defamation. A court heard that the Greens' deputy leader helped police calm tensions and protect residents during the riots.
“It’s far too common for people who look like me to be smeared by right-wing hate-mongers,” Ali told The New Arab. “This is a victory for all global majority public figures and a rebuke to racists everywhere.”
Both commentators have since publicly apologised and agreed to pay “substantial damages”.
“I shouldn’t have had to go to court to get these apologies, but rest assured I’ll keep fighting back against lies and smears,” Ali added.
Armstrong wrote on X on Friday that he had “accepted [the allegations] were incorrect”, while Spofforth admitted the statement was incorrect and offered her “sincere apologies”. The High Court ordered them to pay the full court costs and publicly apologise to the councillor.
The false statements received millions of views combined, and the court heard that Ali had been publicly confronted over the false allegations.
The 2024 riots involved public disorder, fires and confrontations between residents and police. Claims from social media tried to connect the riots with the Muslim community.
Ali was praised for trying to prevent disorder during the riots, with the court hearing a statement from a senior police officer requesting his assistance to try to calm tensions. A right-wing activist group, Turning Point UK, said, “[Ali] was trying to prevent the disorder and stop bins from being pushed into fires”.
In a separate incident, UK police are also investigating threats against Ali over claims he attended a rally in support of the Iranian regime.
The deputy leader is demanding an apology from former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke after parliament claimed he supported the protests.