The recent unrest in the Harehills area in Leeds has shocked the nation and generated considerable debate.
Despite the widespread unrest, many in the community took a stand against the violence, protecting police officers under attack, confronting rioters and helping to put out fires.
One person that bravely took a stand was Councillor Mothin Ali, the recently elected Green Party candidate for the area.
The Green Party – leader, Adrian Ramsey paid tribute with the comment: “Mothin did heroic work bringing calm and unity after the unrest on Thursday night. He risked putting himself in harm’s way to keep the peace and worked tirelessly throughout the night to reduce tension and support the police officers that were at the scene.
“His courage and conviction are a shining example of the work councillors across the country do for their local communities.”
Speaking to Asian Standard, Mr Ali expressed his views on what happened, and what needs to be done to heal a troubled community and avoid further violence.
You and your colleagues bravely formed a human shield to protect police officers, and also confronted rioters who were setting things alight – can you talk us through what happened?
Councillor Ali: There were two occasions during the night – the first around 7pm. The crowd was angry, it was after the initial incident, you will have seen pictures of the upturned police car.
The police had formed a line across the road and me and another Green Party member and some elders from the Roma community locked arms and formed a line in front of the police. We were trying to push people back and control people.
The second incident happened later in the evening just after 10pm. The police were completely underequipped, they had no helmets or shields, they were just normal bobbies on the street.
Later a police van turned up police in riot helmets riots gear they tried to regain control when they arrived on the scene. Immediately when they got out of the van they were pelted with bricks and bottles.
This time there were less of us, maybe two or three of us stood in front of the crowd with their arms out, forming a line in front of the police. At that point some kind of bottle hit me on the head.
Were you hurt at all?
Councillor Ali: Nothing that will kill me! The hail of the missiles was just too much for the police, they could not handle it and they eventually left.
There is footage of people trying to set fire to things, and you and your colleague were saying “This is our community, this is where we live.” Can you tell us a bit about that?
Councillor Ali: Earlier on in the evening, there were some guys carrying a blue pallet, I tried stopping them. They pushed me out of the way.
The one you are referring to is one much later in the evening. The crowd had changed. A lot of outsiders had come in who just wanted to cause trouble, not from within the community.
There were lads racing down with wheelie bins. One I couldn’t stop, but another I managed to kick, I dragged that wheelie bin out, as that one came out another guy had a wooden pallet in his arms and that’s when the exchange of words happened – we were saying that this is our community and that we should look after it.
Do you feel particularly proud of your community?
Councillor Ali: It’s our community, it’s where we grew up, where our shops are, where our Mosques are, where our neighbours are – its ours, whether its good or bad. We have to look after it.
On that night we say some of the worst elements of Harehills but also some of the best – we put the fire out ourselves. People were taking buckets and wheelie bins and filling them up with water from houses. We knocked on doors and asked them for water, A couple of Filipino guys they connected up hosepipes and helped fill the wheelie bins up for us.
So, although there were troublemakers there were also people trying to calm the situation and put the fires out?
Councillor Ali: There were also a lot of people who didn’t want to be pictured doing amazing work.
You have been quoted as saying: “Legitimate anger is appropriate, frustration is appropriate – but attacking a bus with people in is not.
Where do you think this anger and frustration is coming from?
Councillor Ali: There is a lot of poverty in the area, a lot of institutionalised racism a lot of government organisations are set against minority people. There is a lot of institutionalised racism, from local authorities to government. Then you compound that with poverty and lack of opportunity – there is a lot of anger and frustration because of that.
The anger needs to be channelled in appropriate ways. We need to have outlets for it. That is one of the things I was trying to do with the election, to give people who are disenfranchised a voice.
I think there were people who didn’t know how to react, who didn’t know how to work with the system – and this was the result.
You have said that “Our neighbourhood police team are fantastic and actually care about our community, but they don’t have the resources and support that they needed.”
Where do you feel that the police are going wrong and what can they do better in the future?
Councillor Ali: Our neighbourhood police team are really good. I do feel that they genuinely care for the community. They need more support in physical equipment but also, they are massively under resourced – there is just not enough of them for our ward – they are understaffed, so they are left vulnerable.
They are doing a great job, but they would be able to deal with a lot more.
Harehills is an area with both poverty and racial tensions – do you feel these factors contributed to the rioting?
Councillor Ali: Absolutely. Poverty is a huge issue the demographic that turned up late on that night, there were a lot of working-class kids that turned up. Some of them were there to cause trouble but if they had alternative places to be they would not have been here.
There are a lot of people working two or three jobs just to make ends meet. If they weren’t having to struggle so much, they would be around a lot more, the children would be looked after much better, they would have a structure, they would have more time to look after things. Everyone is just so busy trying to survive.
Do you feel that things like youth or sports clubs could help with that?
Councillor Ali: Youth clubs would help, particularly if they run later on into the evening. With the way our area is, people are working and struggling, kids aren’t getting something to eat all the time. If meals were provided, if they were helped more, perhaps they would have more community pride.
Nigel Farage of Reform UK has Tweeted: “The politics of the sub-continent are being played out in Leeds – don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
What’s your response to this statement?
Councillor Ali: It’s irresponsible. Nigel Farage knows nothing about Leeds. Someone in his position should know much better. He should be trying to unite and heal communities. He is targeting immigrants and ethnic minorities just so he can pursue his own political cause. This is quite irresponsible and shameful behaviour.
I would welcome him to come and visit around here, have around and meet people.
Finally, as a Councillor and key community leader in the area affected by the riots, what would you and The Green Party do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
Councillor Ali: First of all, we are organising a community meeting tomorrow. We are trying to open it up to the public as much as possible.
We are inviting Natalie Bennet from the House of Lords to come up and visit Harehills. She will be asking some questions around social care and how it disproportionately effects minority people.
I’m raising my voice as much as I can. I have been out on the streets every day since Thursday. I wake up I’m out there. Making sure that I talk to people.
We have also been asking for better resources for the police for several years now. Harehills is a great place with a great future. We just need to get through these difficult times.
