WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports on the delayed internal party disciplinary process which has taken longer than it took the Daily Mail to capitulate into issuing its own apology and pay ‘substantial’ damages
Left in limbo: Cllr Mark Adderley
Mark Adderley, the newly elected Croydon councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, has won “substantial damages” and legal costs from the Daily Mail for libellous articles published by that title and Metro.
Yet almost three months since the local elections, Adderley remains suspended as a member of the Green Party in relation to similar allegations of antisemitism levelled against him.
Green Party HQ was expected to have reviewed Adderley’s case “by July”, but no determination has yet been announced. Green Party sources suggest that officials may be meeting today to discuss the Adderley case.
Adderley had been selected by the Croydon Green Party to stand in the local elections on May 7 in one of their target wards.
But in response to false newspaper articles and pressure from political rivals, including the Labour Party, the Greens suspended Adderley’s membership, pending an investigation. That decision came after the deadline date for nominations for the elections, which meant that they were unable to substitute Adderley with an alternative candidate.
Duly elected: Adderley was third in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood and elected to the council – while suspended by the Greens
With his name still on the ballot paper, Adderley was duly elected with more than 1,700 votes – the third of three councillors elected for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood.
That is the home ward of the Zionist-funded now ex-Cabinet minister, Steve Reed MP.
Less than a week before the local elections, Labour’s Reed, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North when he can be bothered) even provided the right-wing Mail – the British newspaper notorious for supporting Adolf Hitler in the 1930s – with a self-regarding opinion piece in which he made sweeping accusations of antisemitism against the Green Party.
Celebrity couple: Adderley and Nadia Sawalha
Adderley has nonetheless taken his seat at Croydon Town Hall, but as an “independent”, pending his party’s suspension review.
Adderley is the husband of actress Nadia Sawalha, who was a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women. Sawalha also received an apology and a damages payment from Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Mail.
The Mail and Metro articles, published on April 30 and May 8, suggested that Adderley and Sawalha showed “support for terrorism or hatred of Jews”. The papers’ apologies acknowledged the allegations were untrue.
By the usually grudging standards of Fleet Street, and the Mail in particular, the apologies represent a complete capitulation.
The apology which appears on the Mail’s website reads: “An article ‘Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha claims “dark forces” are at work after husband suspended from the Green Party over “antisemitic” YouTube rant’ (30 April) said that Mark Adderley had shared videos celebrating the ‘courage’ of Hamas as well as conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the September 11 and Bondi Beach attacks.
“While Mr Adderley does have strong views about Israel and Zionism, he did not make these statements suggesting support for terrorism or hatred of Jews. The article also said that Mr Adderley and his wife, Ms Sawalha, run a YouTube channel, and that Ms Sawalha fully supported her husband, which may have suggested that she endorsed the statements and videos wrongly said to have been shared by him.
“These allegations were false and we apologise to Mr Adderley and Ms Sawalha for the error and distress caused.”
Complete capitulation: how the Mail’s apology to Adderley and Sawalha appears online
Adderley and Sawalha’s solicitor, Zillur Rahman, said: “These were serious and damaging allegations which falsely suggested that our clients supported terrorism and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories for simply calling out Israeli war crimes, and opposing Zionism.
“Our clients have consistently opposed racism in all its forms. We are pleased that both publishers have now accepted the falsity of these claims, issued public apologies, and agreed to pay substantial damages.”
A statement issued by the couple’s lawyers said: “Like millions of people around the world, both Mr Adderley and Ms Sawalha hold strong views about Israel and Zionism. However, they have never made statements supporting terrorism or expressed any hatred towards Jewish people.”
And through their solicitors, Sawalha and Adderley said: “To be wrongfully accused of something as heinous and criminal as celebrating the Hamas atrocities of October 7 was unforgivable and put our family and us in danger.
“This apology and retraction from The Daily Mail is a victory for every person who has stood up against the Genocide and been hounded and smeared for doing so. It proves just how important it is to push back against a legacy media that will go to any lengths to try and destroy lives and reputations with false accusations.
“To characterise criticism of Israel, Netanyahu or Zionism as antisemitic is quite simply wrong . Zionism is a political ideology and Netanyahu has an [International Criminal Court] warrant out for his arrest for allegedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“To target us and so many others for daring to speak up against these atrocities is shameful.
“As ever … Free Palestine!”
Read more: LibDems win in Streatham as Greens retain Lambeth control
More Reed: Steve Reed’s aide blocks members’ vote on Mandelson scandal
More Reed: Reed group fined for slow declaration of £800,000 donations
Read more: #LocalElections2026: Greens make bigger inroads than Reform
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
There have been so many cases where people have been falsely accused of antisemitism merely because they have criticised the actions of the state of Israel. As well as being extremely hurtful to the accused it also undermines democracy and freedom of speech. Well done to Mark and Nadia for taking on the news outlets who defamed them and winning.