Green Party deputy leader defends Mothin Ali over property lets
The Green Party's other deputy leader says Mothin Ali's property lets are not hypocritical, citing personal circumstances and no profit.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Green Party has defended its deputy leader Mothin Ali after he was linked to property lets, a move that appeared to contradict the party's policy on landlords. In a broadcast interview, the party's other deputy leader said there was no inherent contradiction, citing personal circumstances and the fact that Ali was not making a profit.
The controversy stems from a motion passed by the Green Party that said the existence of private landlords adds no positive value to the economy or society, and that the relationship between landlord and tenant is exploitative. Ali, who is also a lead councillor, has been accused of hypocrisy because of his property lets.
The other deputy leader argued that the motion was not about abolishing landlords. "If you look at the details of the motion, it's about rent controls, it's about large-scale social housing," she said. She added that the party was not saying landlords should not exist, but that they need to treat their tenants well.
Pressed on whether it was fine for the deputy leader to be a landlord, she said there were "clearly personal circumstances" and that Ali had responsibilities for vulnerable family members. She also noted that he was not making a profit from the lets.
The interviewer challenged her on the motion's wording, which described the landlord-tenant relationship as "inherently extractive and exploitative". The deputy leader said that referred to large-scale profiteering landlords, where housing has become a financial investment rather than a home. She said the priority should be that housing is somebody's home, and rent controls were needed.
When asked if she would be a landlord herself, she declined to discuss personal circumstances. She said that on principle, renting out property was not morally wrong, but it was morally wrong to make "loads of money" at the expense of tenants.
The interview ended with the deputy leader insisting that the motion's writers had said they did not intend it as an attack on individual people who let out property.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC Two |
|---|---|
| Mothin Ali does not profit from his property lets. | |
| The motion concerns rent controls and large-scale social housing. | |
| The motion was not intended to attack individual landlords. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC Two's Politics Live focused on the apparent contradiction between the Green Party's anti-landlord motion and deputy leader Mothin Ali's property lets. The interviewer pressed the other deputy leader on whether the motion was meaningful and whether she agreed with it, while she defended Ali on personal grounds and argued the motion was about rent controls and social housing. The tone was challenging but not hostile, seeking to clarify the party's position.
- “There are clearly personal circumstances, you know, Mothin's made clear the responsibilities of vulnerable family members, the personal circumstances that I'm not privy to in this situation.”
- “I think it is morally wrong if you're making loads of money out of properties at the expense of the tenants within those properties.”
- “Even the writers of that motion have come out saying that on Twitter, or on X, whatever it's called, that they in no way meant this to mean an attack on individual people who let out property.”
Broadcast Timeline
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