The Green Party’s deputy leader has threatened to sue a Tory MP over claims he demonstrated in support of the Iranian regime.
Mothin Ali has fumed at a ‘defamatory lie’ by Sir Alec Shelbrooke, a Conservative former minister, after he claimed Mr Ali was ‘protesting in support of the Ayatollah’.
He challenged Sir Alec to ‘repeat your lies outside of Parliament’, with MPs protected from legal action for anything they say in the House of Commons.
It came after Mr Ali, a Leeds councillor, was revealed to have attended a ‘Stop The War’ protest in London on Saturday, in the wake of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The demonstration in Parliament Square saw activists brandish placards showing a portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the attacks.
Other attendees flew the tricolour flag of the Iranian regime, featuring the emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a question to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons on Monday, Sir Alec said he was ‘appalled’ at Mr Ali’s decision to join the demonstration.
‘I was appalled – not shocked, I am afraid to say – as I am sure the PM was, to see at the weekend the deputy leader of the Green Party once again protesting in support of the Ayatollah,’ he said.
Mothin Ali, the Green Party’s deputy leader, was spotted at a ‘Stop The War’ protest in London on Saturday
The demonstration in Parliament Square saw activists brandish placards showing a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Sir Alec added: ‘I am afraid that the Green Party has become a magnet for all the people who the PM quite rightly kicked out of the Labour Party.
‘The hatred and fear that runs through Leeds now, which has been whipped up at times by Councillor Mothin, is a disgrace.’
The PM responded: ‘I think we were all shocked by the actions of the deputy leader of the Green Party – although perhaps not surprised, given that party’s recent turn of direction.’
In a swipe at Green leader Zack Polanski’s support for the UK quitting NATO, Sir Keir added: ‘I have to say that the Green Party’s argument that now is the time to get out of NATO and negotiate with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin over our nuclear weapons is also contrary to the British national interest.’
Responding to Sir Alec’s comments in a social media post on Monday night, Mr Ali hit out at ‘defamatory lie’.
‘I am proudly anti-war and anti-racist. I make no apologies for attending a Stop the War protest,’ he added.
‘That does not mean I support the Iranian regime. I dare you to repeat your lies outside of Parliament.’
Mr Ali pictured with Green leader Zack Polanski at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in October last year
Mr Ali challenged Tory MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke to ‘repeat your lies outside of Parliament’, with MPs protected from legal action for anything they say in the House of Commons
Following his election as a councillor in May 2024, Mr Ali delivered a speech in front of a Palestinian flag in which he hailed his victory as a ‘win for the people of Gaza’.
He also shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, which means ‘God is the greatest’ in Arabic.
Mr Ali later apologised for ‘any upset my comments caused about the Gaza conflict’, after his past remarks about the 7 October attacks on Israel were unearthed.
After the Hamas terror attacks on Israel in 2023, Mr Ali branded Israelis as ‘white supremacists’ in social media videos and backed Palestinians’ right to ‘fight back’.
In a previous statement explaining why he attended Saturday’s protest in Parliament Square, Mr Ali said: ‘I’m proudly anti-war. And to be anti-war that means looking to explore all possible diplomatic solutions.
‘The US and Israel took a unilateral decision in the midst of negotiations to kill the Iranian leader, and opted for war. This is deplorable.
‘I have always stood with ordinary people all over the world and that extends to the Iranian people and their quest for freedom.
‘But you can’t bomb a democracy into existence, the US and its proxies should have learned that lesson by now.’
