'I'm as English as a Yorkshire cup of tea', declares Green deputy leader Mothin Ali as he hits back at ex-home secretary Suella Braverman's claim that British Asians can't be English

Published: 07:05 EDT, 3 October 2026 | Updated: 07:43 EDT, 3 October 2026 Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali today declared himself 'as English as a Yorkshire cup of tea' as he hit back at claims by Reform UK's Suella Braverman.Mrs Braverman, who was home secretary in the previous Tory government before defecting to Reform, has suggested that British Asians like herself can't be English.In an appearance on BBC's Question Time this week, the Reform MP said she is 'British of Asian ethnicity' rather than English, because of her family's heritage.Her stance has been attacked by Tory ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak who has warned of a 'very slippery slope' by turning questions about nationality 'into a DNA test'.Mr Ali, a Leeds councillor of Bangladeshi descent, also rejected Mrs Braverman's claims as he addressed the Greens' conference in Brighton on Saturday.'A message to Suella, I'm brown, I'm Muslim. But I'm as English as a Yorkshire cup of tea!' he told Green activists, who booed the mention of Mrs Braverman. Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali declared himself 'as English as a Yorkshire cup of tea' as he hit back at claims by Reform UK's Suella Braverman In an appearance on BBC's Question Time this week, Mrs Braverman said she is 'British of Asian ethnicity' rather than English, because of her family's heritage.Mr Ali also urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to declare a 'national emergency' on 'unprecedented levels of racist violence and intimidation'.'This is not just a policing problem. It's a test of whether a diverse democracy can protect the equal right of everybody to belong,' he added.Mr Ali, who declared his local election victory in 2024 as a 'win for the people of Gaza', was himself previously caught up in a row over his comments about the 7 October terror attacks on Israel. The Greens' gathering in Brighton comes just days before party leader Zack Polanski's bid to become an MP at the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.But the conference risks being overshadowed by a row over a controversial motion, due to be debated by party members on Sunday, that declares 'Zionism is racism'.It states that Zionism - defined in the motion as support for 'an ethnonationalist Jewish State' - will 'be treated as any other form of racism' by the party.But former Green leaders Caroline Lucas and Adrian Ramsay have both criticised the motion as 'divisive' and 'wrong'.Mr Polanski has also been warned that it could be 'seen as a sign that Jewish people aren't welcome'.Many of those who will be able to debate the motion on Sunday are likely to have only joined the party in recent months during its membership surge.Amid the internal party row, Mr Ali said that the Greens' sudden growth 'should be a strength but only if we learn how to disagree'.'We've grown enormously, and we've grown quickly,' he told party members. 'Of course that brings disagreement.'People have come here from different political traditions, different communities, and different experiences. That should be a strength.'But only if we learn how to disagree. Difference is not betrayal. Disagreement is not disloyalty.'Losing a vote does not make the person who beat you your enemy. And winning does not give you permission to humiliate the people who disagreed with you.'That is not the Green way. And being good at disagreement must never mean tolerating racism, misogyny, homophobia or intimidation inside our own movement.'Mr Ali claimed the Greens have 'an opportunity to become one of the most inclusive political movements in modern Britain'.