Ali vs GPEW: Dr Shahrar Ali awarded £90,000 costs

Yesterday the much anticipated cost awards hearing for Ali vs GPEW took place. The Green Party of England and Wales was ordered to pay former deputy leader Dr Shahrar Ali £90,000 after he won his discrimination case against the party. That was in addition to the £9,100 in damages he was awarded earlier this year.

So what is the overall cost to GPEW and its members?

Apart from its own party officers bringing the party into disrepute (see Code of Conduct) by breaking the law, the financial implications from Ali vs GPEW and future legal actions already underway, cannot be underestimated. Nor can the out of court settlements the party is rumoured to have previously paid to other claimants.

No one can know for sure what the party has spent defending itself in the Ali case. Transparency to its membership is not one of the party’s strong points, but even moderate estimates put it at approximately £200,000 + £100,000 awarded to Dr Ali in costs and damages.

The party is reported to have put £280,000 aside for potential legal bills.

Who pays?

If the estimate of the Ali case above is correct, that leaves the party nothing to defend itself against known future legal actions and those currently being considered by a number of the Greens in Exile.

Many members of the party may have noticed that their membership fees were recently hiked. This was widely reported as being a direct result of the party’s legal position in its attempt to defend the indefensible.

The party’s financial auditors also noted that the Ali vs GPEW case left “uncertainty” about the party’s ability to keep running normally

Party denial

Predictably, head in sand, the party itself announced that the increase in membership fee’s was solely to fund its ‘biggest general election campaign ever’ and failed to inform its membership of its financial situation, no doubt hoping that the media coverage had passed them by.

Just imagine how many additional Green MP’s the party could have secured if it had not been wasting members fee’s in unnecessary legal costs.

Dr Shahrar Ali cost statement

Read Shahrar’s statement following yesterday’s cost hearing below (reproduced in full with permission) and ask yourself and your party representatives what you and they can do to stop the party from slipping into the financial abyss of bankruptcy.

“Today’s award of £90,000 represents a huge sum of money: 60% of the financial cost to me of bringing this case. I had to undertake a herculean fundraising campaign in order to achieve this and raid all my life’s savings besides.

To the elected officers and staff in charge of betraying the Green Party: your days are numbered. To the 60,000-strong membership: I urge you to take charge of the destiny of this party – now.

The Party is in total denial about the significance of this landmark case and its implications for party governance. The judgment, handed down on 9 February this year, could not have been more unequivocal:

“By removing him as spokesperson in a procedurally unfair way, GPEx discriminated against Dr Ali because of his protected belief contrary to section 101 of the Equality Act.” (250)

“He was dismissed for breaches of the Spokespeople Code of Conduct although GPEx failed to identify, consider, or make findings in relation to any such breaches.” (246)

“Dr Ali also seeks a declaration that he has been subjected to unlawful discrimination. I grant the declaration sought, although it does not obviate the need for damages.” (274)

You may be in denial about the meaning of those words in law. But you cannot be in denial about the expense of breaking the law or risk of bankruptcy in continuing to fall afoul of it. In addition to my costs, the Green Party has of course had to pay its own. These were estimated at £171,387, early in the litigation, but they must have spent considerably more than that. It felt like a deliberate tactic for the Defendant to undertake legal stunts to derail my litigation or starve me of funds: both of their wrecking applications were dismissed. Their legal bench was heavily populated throughout trial. Members have a right to know how much was spent defending this case.

The judgment established a high threshold on robust debate in political parties, despite the industry of offence-taking. In the Judge’s terms, these were the Fundamental Party Rights – on freedom of conscience, expression and association – enshrined in articles 9, 10 and 11, respectively, of the European Convention of Human Rights, and again in the Human Rights Act. These rights protect all sides to the debate, but not as a licence for fanatics to abuse our disciplinary processes when we don’t like what someone is saying. Gender critical belief is both Worthy of respect in a democratic society and Worthy of respect in a political party. Without due respect to the latter our democratic society will fall.

In the absence of an Equality and Human Rights Commission probe, we must demand an independent investigation into the corruption. All those involved in the subversion of our party processes in my case should be held to account, chief among them, Sian Berry (now MP) and Matt Browne (now AWOL).

Those officers on GPEx who voted for my removal, contrary to the Party’s own legal advice, must be held to account. Those who hold the Party to ransom, are not the true Greens standing firm against unlawful discrimination but the ideological fanatics. They’ve gone full DARVO (deny-attack-reverse-victim-and-offender), out of control.

On 23 August 2024, three weeks ago to the day, I was “no fault” suspended pending investigation. My detractors have been trying this for years, subjecting me to seven fresh complaints since I began litigation in Feb 2022. Through disclosure and trial, we learned how the most senior staffer of the Green Party breached the Standing Orders for Party Discipline when they shared my confidential data with the External Communications Coordinator. CEO, Mary Clegg writes:

The current suspension is reckless in the extreme, depriving me of the opportunity to engage with members locally, regionally and nationally, or stand for positions, or to promote a motion on Cass at conference. I call upon the Party to immediately revoke my suspension or face another gender critical discrimination and victimisation case. They should offer to restore my spokesperson role, too.

Finally, I want to thank the people who have generously donated to my fundraising campaigns. Without you I simply could not have succeeded. Over the coming months, I will write to all those who supported my case and offer to return as much of their donations as I can after paying my own debts. I relied upon nearly 3,500 individual donations, many contributing more than once.

Thanks to Liz McGlone at didlaw and Jeffrey Jupp KC of 7BR. Their commitment to the justice of my cause has been truly inspirational. Finally, I thank my partner, Sevara, and my beautiful family for forbearing the financial and emotional costs of this litigation.

Integrity will overcome dirty politics.

Truth will prevail over lies.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

And, yes, sex is immutable.”