Visitors to Westminster this morning might have experienced a meteorological disturbance shortly after 10 a.m as SW1 types took a sharp intake of breath. For Carole Cadwalladr, the ever-online Observer journalist has today won her libel case against brash Brexit-backer Arron Banks, the founder of Leave.EU.
Banks tried to sue Cadwalladr for defamation over two instances – one in a TED Talk video and another in a tweet. He claimed he was defamed after comments Cadwalladr made about his relationship with the Russian state. The High Court judgement follows a five day hearing in January and centred on comments she made in a TED talk in April 2019 and a tweet she later posted which included a link to the talk. She told an audience that: ‘I’m not even going to go into the lies that Arron Banks has told about his covert relationship with the Russian government.’
In a judgment handed down on Monday, Mrs Justice Steyn said the Ted talk had caused serious harm to Banks’ reputation but the tweet had not, dismissing the later part of the claim. However she added that Cadwalladr had succeeded in her public interest defence. Banks has already tweeted that:
Looks like this one is going to continue to run and run…
This article is free to read
To unlock more articles, subscribe to get 3 months of unlimited access for just $5
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in