Ex-Green deputy leader launches new legal action against party

Former Green Party deputy leader Dr Shahrar Ali has launched a second legal claim against the party after he was expelled last year.

Ali, who won a landmark case against the Green Party of England and Wales in February 2024, has accused the party of “procedural abuse”, and continuing to discriminate against him for his gender critical beliefs.

The timing of the legal action is likely to cast a shadow over the Green Party’s conference in seven days, where internal divisions over gender have already sparked controversy.

A party spokesperson said “we do not recognise the vague claims” made by Ali and it was focusing on political work under the new leadership of Zack Polanski.

In February, a judge found that the Greens had unlawfully discriminated against Ali during a row over his gender-critical beliefs.

Ali was awarded damages of £9,100.

The Greens were also ordered to pay him a further £90,000 in costs in September after the court found his removal as a spokesperson had been procedurally unfair and amounted to direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

However, the judgment also upheld the right of political parties to deselect spokespeople whose views conflict with party policy, provided fair procedures are followed.

The Green Party acknowledged “procedural shortfalls” in the earlier case and apologised, but denied broader allegations of discrimination. It has not yet responded publicly to the new claim.

On Friday, Ali formally lodged a second legal claim for unlawful discrimination and victimisation against the Green Party at the Royal Courts of Justice, alleging breaches of the Equality Act 2010.

Speaking outside court, Ali warned that the “Green Party is continuing to play a dangerous game” and further legal action could lead to “bankruptcy this time”.

“I continue to suffer significant detriment” prevented from attending conference and “being able to stand for leader this year”.

He has now been excluded from the party for a fixed term of two years as a result of complaints made about him in 2022.

The Green Party has said it would not comment on an individual case.

But in his legal action, Ali said some of the complaints related to a social media post he shared in July 2022, in which he suggested that teaching the concept of transgender identity to two year olds was a “danger to children”.

In a message on X, he quoted a post by the campaign group Stonewall which said that research suggested “children as young as two recognise their trans identity”.

Ali added a comment which said: “Off scale of safeguarding risk. Would we teach two year olds concept of schizophrenia?”

He has argued he compared transgender identity to schizophrenia as two complex issues that should not be taught to children.

The party has told him that any future readmission would be conditional on him publicly retracting posts that had been complained about, apologising and undertaking safeguarding training.

The Green Party’s annual conference is due to begin next Friday.

A spokesperson said: “It is the nature of politics that sometimes people take objection, but we do not recognise the vague claims here.

“Our finances are solid, as is our resolve to defend ourselves.

“In the meantime, the Green Party, with its new Leadership team, are focussed on the real issues at hand – the cost-of-living and climate crises, while working to protect and cherish our NHS against Reform’s suggestion to move to a US-style insurance system.”

Newly elected leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski said in a recent interview with The Canary website that “transphobia will absolutely not be tolerated” under his leadership.

The party’s official position is that it campaigns for the right of self-identification for trans and non-binary people.

But there are long-running tensions with members who hold gender-critical beliefs, which includes that a person’s sex cannot be changed.