Hope Not Hate blasted by senior Tory after ‘pouring petrol on flames’ with acid attack ‘misinformation’

The chief executive of left-wing activist group Hope Not Hate has been branded “incredibly irresponsible” by a senior Tory after sharing an unverified claim about an acid attack amid rioting in Middlesbrough.

Nick Lowles, the chief executive of Hope not Hate, posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday night that there were reports of an acid attack in Middlesbrough.

He wrote: “Reports are coming in of acid being thrown out of a car window at a Muslim woman in Middlesbrough. Absolutely horrendous.”

The post was seen by well over 100,000 people.

Cleveland police then issued a statement to say that the force had not received any formal complaints of an acid attack in the Teeside town.

Neil O’Brien, the Tory MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, said Lowles’s comments were dangerous.

“This was an incredibly irresponsible thing to do, spreading misinformation and pouring petrol on the flames.

“As an organisation it seems to have totally lost its way, smearing incredibly mainstream politicians as far right while stoking racial tensions at the worst possible moment.”

Cleveland Police added in its statement that it had seen reports of the acid attack but no one had come forward as a witness or victim of the alleged incident.

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Josh Fenton-Glynn, the Labour MP for Calder Valley in Yorkshire, shared Mr Lowles’s post and added: “Far right cowards attacking women. When people show you who they are, believe them.”

He deleted the post on X after the police issued a statement.

Mr Fenton-Glynn then posted yesterday: “I’ve removed the post about acid attackers following police saying it wasn’t true.

“It was from someone who’s generally a good [sic] but it’s important we correct misinformation where we see it.”

Despite the police intervention, yesterday morning Mr Lowles said that “some in the local Muslim community insist it happened. Hold my hands up if my initial tweet was wrong. Won’t comment further until more information is known.”

The unverified claims about the acid attack on a Muslim woman have been repeated by counter-protestors on the street.

In a clip uploaded to X, a British-Pakistani man in a black jacket expressed his anger about violence against mosques and Muslims in recent rioting and disorder, adding: “our innocent Muslim sisters are getting acid attacked.”

GB News has approached Hope Not Hate for comment.