Green Party splashes out '£190,000 on legal battles' as leaked dossier exposes huge internal trans row

According to the report, the party spent £190,000 on legal battles in 2024.

A further £350,000 was also allocated across its 2025 and 2026 budgets to defend against legal claims from current and former members.

The report warns these sums constitute a “substantial proportion of the Party’s actual and projected income for these years” and were therefore eating into resources for other essential uses.

Lawyers advised that the legal fees restricted funding that would otherwise be spent on: “Improving essential Party functions, ensuring adequate staffing levels, and realising our political goals.”

“They also limit the amount we are able to disburse to local parties to meet our obligation to pay capitations,” the report read.

The dossier, seen by The Telegraph, details that the legal battles come as the Green Party appears to be locked in an internecine struggle over transgender issues.

According to the document, members questioning gender ideology have faced expulsions that did not always adhere to proper procedures, with party officials allegedly taking action based on "individual hostility to gender-critical beliefs, or assumed beliefs".

It states that such disciplinary measures "should only be undertaken in extreme circumstances" and warns that targeting gender-critical members is damaging morale whilst "failing to inspire the trust and confidence of large numbers of party members".

Guidelines on how to "Identify Queerphobia", adopted by the Green Party Regional Council in 2023, were flagged as "highly problematic in its current form".

This guidance classifies as transphobic any "actions which convey a view that trans women are not 'real women', are men and/or are male people; trans men are not 'real men', are women and/or are female people; and/or non-binary genders and identities do not exist or are invalid".

The party's lawyers warn that "regardless of the merits or otherwise of such views, they refer to the expression of a protected belief under the Equality Act, and the Party cannot lawfully discriminate against its members for holding or expressing such a belief".

"There is a strong perception among some members that the actions of the bodies making disciplinary decisions are sometimes motivated by individual hostility to gender-critical beliefs, or assumed beliefs," it read.

Evidence cited includes a social media post from a current co-chairman of the Green Party council stating she stood for election to ensure the ruling body could "protect the wellbeing of the party by sanctioning members who engage in transphobia".

Additionally, a motion at the 2022 annual conference, backed by numerous current and former council members, attempted to expel any Green member who had signed a declaration supporting women's sex-based rights.

The leaked report follows a court ruling last year that found the Greens had discriminated against their former deputy leader, Dr Shahrar Ali, over his gender-critical beliefs.

A tribunal determined he had been improperly dismissed for holding the view that "biology is real and immutable", with the dossier acknowledging the process was "procedurally unfair".

Dr Ali is now pursuing a second legal case against the party, alleging "procedural abuse" and ongoing discrimination.

"This leaked report should set alarm bells ringing for both the party's growing membership and the wider electorate. I am now taking the party to court for a second time after being subjected once again to a weaponised disciplinary process," Dr Ali said.

"My thought crimes were adding my voice to the condemnation of Imane Khelif at the Olympics and calling for a UK ban on online clinics supplying puberty blockers to children. The Green Party now faces a stark choice – adopt good governance and reinstate persecuted members, or confront existential consequences in the courts," he told The Telegraph.

Zack Polanski, elected party leader in September, has been a vocal supporter of trans rights. He dismissed the Supreme Court's April ruling that "sex" refers to biological sex as "thinly veiled transphobia" and, during his leadership campaign, emphasised the importance of standing firm on self-identification policies.

A Green Party spokesman said: "Every political party makes provision in its financial planning for possible legal fees, and we are no different in this respect. It is a prudent action for us to take."The spokesman added:

"Parts of this report are factually inaccurate but we do acknowledge the need to improve our disciplinary processes and in particular to tackle delays. That work is under way. Our party policy is clear – trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities exist and are valid," they added.

GB News has approached the Green Party for further comment.

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