Shahrar Ali wins ‘gender critical’ court battle against Green Party

Image source, Getty Images

By Sam Francis & Helen Catt

BBC Politics

The Green Party discriminated against former deputy leader Dr Shahrar Ali during a row over his gender critical beliefs, a court has ruled.

The court found the Green Party had improperly dismissed Dr Ali as a party spokesperson because it had failed to identify any misconduct.

The Mayor’s and City County Court awarded £9,100 in damages to Dr Ali.

But the judgement upheld political parties’ right to dismiss spokespeople whose views differ from party policy.

The Green Party admitted “procedural shortfalls” in dismissing Dr Ali.

The Chair of the Green Party of England and Wales’ executive, Jon Nott, said: We are pleased that the court has recognised that a democratic political party has the right to select those who speak for it on the basis that they can and will communicate and support party policy publicly.”

All other allegations of discrimination and victimisation by the Green Party were dismissed.

Dr Ali’s was the first legal action of its kind against a political party.

The party removed Dr Ali as spokesman for policing and domestic safety in February 2022 for breaching the party’s Spokespeople Code of Conduct.

In papers submitted to the court, lawyers acting for Dr Ali claim that officials in the Green Party “collaborated” to remove him from his post because of his beliefs about gender, which include the view that “biology is real and immutable”.

The court ruled Dr. Ali’s removal as “procedurally unfair” because the Green Party identified no code breaches at his dismissal.

Judge Stephen Hellman said he could not rule out the possibility that this unfairness had been due Dr Ali’s gender critical beliefs.

Political parties can remove spokespeople for holding “beliefs that were inconsistent with party policy”, if done through fair procedures, the judgement found.

The Equalities Act also safeguards criticism of gender-critical and pro-trans beliefs in political discourse, the judgement found.

Green problems

The ruling may not entirely draw a line under the issue for the Greens.

The BBC understands several other Green Party activists who hold similar views had been planning legal action against the party off the back of Dr Ali’s case.

Green Party accounts had suggested multiple cases could put strain onthe party’s finances.

Legal costs for the case will be decided at a future hearing. The Green Party also have 21 days to appeal.

Concerns have also been growing among some members about how disciplinary processes are currently being enforced.

Last month, three committee members from an officially recognised internal group, Green Seniors, were suspended pending investigation.

The judgment has led to calls from some members with gender critical views for suspensions to be overturned and the Disciplinary Committee to be disbanded.

‘Gift’ to politics

Dr Ali called the result a “landmark case”.

He called the result the latest in a “series of judgments” supporting gender critical beliefs, since the High Court ruled Maya Forstater’s belief people cannot change their biological sex was protected under the Equalities Act.

Speaking outside the court, Dr Ali said: “I see this as my gift to the Green Party and wider politics, particularly in the left, where there has been an extraordinary toxicity preventing us form speaking freely.”

Dr Ali called for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate the Green Party over how it handles trans rights debates.

Alongside this, he said independent inquiry “into the hostile environment in political parties across the left” should be set up.

He said: “The current Green Party of England and Wales is out of control.

“Parties are not beyond the law when it comes to seeking to discipline their representatives in accordance with their own rules for alleged misconduct.”

In a statement, the Green Party said it “acknowledges that there were procedural shortfalls in how we deselected one of our spokespeople”.

The party added: “We apologise for failing in this instance to live up to the standards that both we and the court expect.”

Responding to the judgement Cade Hatton, co-chair of the LGBTQIA+ Greens group, said: “We must be able to rely on our most visible members – our spokespeople and elected representatives – to both hold up the ethos and the democratically chosen party policies that support the most vulnerable members of our society.

“We hope that everyone involved feels they have gotten what they needed out of this case, but sadly under our judicial system and with the complexities of this issue, this is rarely possible.”