News: Lord McAlpine receives a further £125,000 libel damages from ITV

The extraordinary story of Lord McAlpine’s libel settlements continues. The former Conservative Party Treasurer has settled his claims against Philip Schofield and ITV for £125,000. The claims arose out of  a “This Morning programme” broadcast on 8 November 2012 during which the presenter handed the prime minister a list of names of alleged abusers he had found on the internet.

Leveson Report: Publication on 29 November 2012

The date of publication of the long awaited Leveson Report into the culture, practices and ethics of the press has been announced. Lord Justice Leveson will publish his Report on Thursday 29 November 2012.

The Defamation Bill and a “Strong Public Interest Defence” – Hugh Tomlinson QC

Libel reform campaigners have long argued for the inclusion of a “strong public interest” defence in the Defamation Bill.   The current version of the Defamation Bill contains, in clause 4, a defence of “Responsible Publication in the Public Interest” – which is a codification of the common law “Reynolds” defence.  Although this is not wholly satisfactory it does, at least, focus attention on the need properly to investigate and verify allegations before publication.