A councillor has made a complaint of racism to police after comments about grooming gangs made during a meeting.
Mothin Ali, who represents Gipton and Harehills on Leeds City Council, criticised comments in a speech by Reform councillor Ryan Taylor on Wednesday as “racist dog whistles”.
Taylor had been discussing the exploitation of children by county lines gangs and grooming gangs when he said elected officials “of a certain colour” would suggest abuse victims had made a “lifestyle choice”.
Taylor said there was nothing in his speech about Ali and it was “a sign of the times” that he would be labelled a racist for speaking out on grooming gangs. Police said they were “reviewing” the complaint.
In a video of Taylor’s maiden speech, he appears to gesture towards someone when he makes mention of “councillors of a certain colour”, which Ali claimed was referring to him.
The Green Party councillor described the comments as “racist dog whistles designed to divide communities rather than address the real struggles facing families in Leeds”.
Ali said he had reported the incident to police and made a formal code of conduct complaint to Leeds City Council’s monitoring officer.
West Yorkshire Police said: “Following the Leeds City Council meeting on Wednesday 10 September, we were informed of concerns regarding comments expressed in the session.
“The matter is now being reviewed in line with our usual procedures.”
The BBC has asked Leeds City Council for comment.
Ali, who was elected as joint deputy leader of the Green Party last week, said: “These comments were not just offensive to me personally, they were an attempt to stigmatise whole communities.
“Racism has no place in politics or in Leeds. These comments were designed to silence me, but I will not be silenced.
“I will not stand by while Reform try to divide and stigmatise my community.”
The Green Party said it was calling on Leeds City Council and Reform UK to take immediate action to address the incident.
Ali previously said he and his family were racially abused while on holiday in Norfolk earlier this summer.
In response to Ali’s claims, Taylor said: “I stated in my speech that the number of children still going missing in the care sector is not acceptable as these vulnerable children are at risk from county lines and grooming gangs.
“My suggestion for the report to government, was to include the assessment, and to challenge certain Labour politicians’ rhetoric, who stigmatise and describe these victims of abuse in such appalling ways.
“There was nothing in my speech that had anything to do with Cllr Ali and I fail to see how he could assimilate with anything I said.”
The Morley South representative added: “This is exactly why grooming gangs have been ignored and covered up. For fear of being called a racist.
“These children don’t have a voice, and I am not afraid to use my position to speak up for them.”
