GB News presenter Alex Armstrong and right-wing social media commentator Bernadette Spofforth have apologised and paid substantial damages to Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali after falsely suggesting he took part in the 2024 Harehills riots in Leeds.
The settlement was outlined at the High Court in London yesterday, with the defendants’ barrister, Samantha Thompson, telling the court that both “apologise to the claimant for the serious harm to his reputation and his distress.”
Ali, who represents Gipton and Harehills on Leeds City Council, attended the scene of the disorder in 2024 to help calm tensions, assist police and protect local residents.
However, social media posts, largely shared by far-right Islamophobic accounts, subsequently portrayed him as a participant in the rioting, with some attempting to link his Muslim identity to the disorder.
The case highlights the serious consequences of publishing false allegations about public figures, particularly when claims are amplified to millions of social media users amid rising anti-Muslim hate.
Millions viewed the false claims
The court heard that Armstrong published two posts about Ali on X which received more than 3.1 million views combined, while Spofforth’s post was viewed 216,000 times.
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Armstrong’s second post suggested Ali had dishonestly attempted to distance himself from the rioting. The allegations were subsequently repeated by others, according to the statement presented to the court.
Armstrong is a television presenter and political commentator for GB News, where he hosts current-affairs programmes and interviews guests on British politics, social issues and breaking news.
Ali’s legal representative said the councillor had been confronted on numerous occasions in public as a result of the claims, with people stopping him “forcefully and in strong language”.
He added: “He has also suffered vile racist abuse online. This has caused the claimant significant harm, upset, distress and embarrassment.”
Ali said the consequences extended beyond his own reputation, claiming that his family had lived in fear following the social media posts and that his car had been damaged.
He also criticised what he described as the disproportionate scrutiny faced by politicians from ethnic minority backgrounds.
“Black and brown public figures not only do not always get the recognition deserved and more than earned, but they get a level of scrutiny and smears far greater than their counterparts,” he said.
The settlement means both Armstrong and Spofforth have apologised and agreed to pay substantial damages and legal costs. The precise amounts have not been publicly specified in the reports reviewed.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski praised his deputy following the outcome of the case, describing him as a “hero”.
“My friend and colleague Mothin is a hero. He did exactly what an excellent councillor would do, working to calm down and heal division, and was praised across party lines at the time for doing so.”
He added: “His win today against right-wing smears is a win not only for him, but for all global majority politicians, whatever party they serve, in their fight against racist abuse.”
Ali became deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales in 2025, having previously built his profile as a local councillor representing the Harehills area of Leeds.
The ‘hero of Harehills’
The Harehills disturbances broke out in Leeds in July 2024, involving disorder, fires and confrontations between local residents and police officers.
According to a statement read to the High Court on Ali’s behalf, a senior police officer had requested his assistance in helping to quell the unrest. The violence was not initiated by Muslims in the area, nor were local Muslims participants in the violence after it began. Despite this, some far-right propaganda has attempted to suggest that the unrest was somehow connected to Muslims or Islamic immigration to the city.
Ali’s representative, Axel Landin, told the court that he “attended the scene, appealed for calm, acted as a liaison between police and the community, escorted members of the public away from danger and put out fires himself”.
Rather than participating in the violence, Ali said he had been trying to prevent further damage and protect the community he represented.
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice following the settlement, he said: “While buses burned, I stayed there to limit the damage. To limit the harm to my community and for my service to my community, I was not only accused of rioting, but something I take even more seriously: my honesty was brought into question.”
Ali described how he had attempted to intervene directly during the disorder, saying he had been “wrestling pallets out of people’s hands, pulling bins from fires and rallying the community to gather water to put out the fires”.
At the time, shortly after the unrest, he was branded the “hero of Harehills” by colleagues in the Green Party and some media platforms for his actions, which involved risking his own safety to calm tensions and extinguish fires.
In an exclusive interview with 5Pillars in July, 2024, Ali revealed that the negative coverage of his election win and the backlash over false claims he was involved in riots forced him into “short term police hiding.”
Latest GB News apology to Muslims
The Ali settlement is not the first time GB News has faced legal consequences after broadcasting false allegations about Muslims.
The right-wing broadcaster was previously forced to apologise and pay substantial damages to Muslim charity Islamic Relief after one of its guests falsely accused the charity of funding terrorism.
On February 16, pro-Israel UAE commentator Amjad Taha appeared on The Camilla Tominey Show and falsely claimed that Islamic Relief had funded terrorist groups in the Middle East and was part of a wider agenda promoting extremism and radicalisation.
However, the following statement, agreed by both sides, was read in open court: “Islamic Relief has not engaged in, or in any way facilitated, the sending of money to any terrorist group or entity. Nor is it part of or involved in the promotion of any agenda aside of its humanitarian mission. Indeed, Islamic Relief is a purely humanitarian organisation, which seeks to uphold the strictest standards in its project implementation, reporting and accountability. It does not finance terrorist groups as alleged, or at all, nor does it promote extremism or radicalisation of any kind.”
GB News removed the offending broadcast and associated publications from its website and social media platforms, undertook not to repeat the false allegations, broadcast a full apology and agreed to pay substantial damages and costs.
Elsewhere, in December 2024, a two-year study by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM) accused GB News of systematic anti-Muslim bias, claiming its coverage demonises Islamic beliefs and presents British Muslims overwhelmingly negatively. The report warned that the channel’s reporting could fuel community tensions and contribute to civil unrest.
In 2026, a major international study found that the Islamophobic broadcaster GB News is the country’s least trusted mainstream broadcaster.
The finding comes from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, widely regarded as the most authoritative annual study of global news consumption.
According to the report, only 29% of UK respondents said they trust GB News, while 44% said they do not trust it, giving the broadcaster a net trust score of minus 15.
GB News previously rejected the allegations of systematic anti-Muslim bias as “defamatory”, describing them as an attempt to silence free speech.
