Mothin Ali, the newly elected deputy leader of the Green Party, has described an incident in which he and his family were subjected to racist abuse and had bottles thrown at them during a day out at Cromer beach in Norfolk. The Leeds councillor, who was born in Sheffield and has lived in Yorkshire all his life, said the attack occurred while he was building sandcastles with his six-year-old son.
Ali claimed the abuse—which included shouts of “Get out of our country” and racist slurs—was fuelled by inflammatory rhetoric from right-wing activists, particularly Reform UK. He accused the party of offering simplistic solutions to complex problems by scapegoating immigrants and Muslims, and warned that such language was designed to stir up hate and posed a “big threat” to social cohesion.
Speaking about the new Green leadership team, which includes leader Zack Polanski and joint deputy leader Rachel Millward, Ali highlighted the diverse backgrounds of the trio, describing them as a “gay Jewish man, a straight practising Muslim with a big beard and from a northern working-class background, and a middle-class woman who’s a feminist.” He said this mix sent a message that Britain was a “melting pot” and that the party needed to be more assertive in communicating its policies.
Ali stressed that the Greens’ key message was one of hope, pointing to the struggles of constituents in one of Leeds’ most deprived communities. He argued that creative solutions, such as solar farms on rooftops, could tackle high energy bills and the climate crisis simultaneously. He also criticised the Labour Party’s stance on Gaza, describing it as “pathetic” and “complicit”, and reaffirmed that the Greens did not seek to win votes by their position but genuinely believed in what they said.
