Don’t Menshn Libel Action

[Update at end of post]

Just to prove that the level of applied idiocy emanating from (thankfully) former Tory MP Louise Mensch knows no bounds, she has followed yesterday’s jaw-dropping hypocrisy in her Sunday Sun column with a libel threat. As with her scribbling in Creepy Uncle Rupe’s pisspoor rag, very few people will take any notice, and many of those will regard her as another comedy turn.

(c) Doc Hackenbush 2014

The full and frank exchange of views occurred last night, and let the world know that Ms Mensch apparently considers defamation only to be what others do to her, that anyone other than her is not entitled to express an opinion, and that her awareness of how a libel claim is pursued is not unadjacent to sweet jack. Her ire was directed at the highly sound journalist and playwright Peter Jukes.

He observed “Weird that Louise Mensch accuses BBC of using public money to lie about News UK: she misused her Parliamentary job to get a job with them”. That opinion, forthrightly argued, was too much for Ms Mensch: “Where can I find you to serve the writ, Peter?” she replied, demonstrating that her legal knowledge is stuck somewhere in the last century.

Jukes, meanwhile, was just getting the popcorn in: “Please go ahead. I’ll crowd fund the defence” (and, Ms M., I would readily contribute, as would hundreds of others). “Entirely your choice” she sniffed, still not realising her ignorance.

But she was going after him: “I am going to. I’ll follow you, so you can DM an address. You can apologise or delete, or I will sue you for libel”. Over to you, Pete: “You’ll sue me for libel? You wanna see what you said about my Hacking Trial coverage? Don’t make me laugh”. It’s true that if she has a case, he has a probably better counter argument.

But she wasn’t interested: “no. Also, this is getting tedious now and I’m not prepared to go back and forth with you on it. Delete/apologise or not, your option”. It rather looked like “not”, as Jukes raised her a few chips: “Last word: I think it’s a misuse of an MP’s job to go and work for a company you gained a high profile for investigating”. Another opinion forthrightly declared.

She wasn’t at all happy about that: “Peter’s allegation is too serious and I cannot let is stand ... I offered multiple chances to withdraw”. Aw diddums! All that was left was for Hamid to muse “I just look forward to the inevitable post from Zelo Street”. And here it is: in the meantime, perhaps someone would tell Ms Mensch that they don’t do writs nowadays, or necessarily need addresses.

In other words, she knows as little about pursuing a libel action as all those other subjects on which she so readily, and shamelessly, shoots her mouth off. Peter Jukes ought to refer her to the precedent case of Arkell versus Pressdram.

[UPDATE 1520 hours: Ms Mensch, finding herself in a hole, has ignored Healey's Dictum, as she knows better than such people, and has kept on digging.

After another Tweeter posted news of this post, she announced with characteristic pretentiousness that "I must add Tim Fenton to the suit". Was I quaking in my boots? No. Was I bracing myself for legal onslaught? No. Was I even going to bother telling my lawyer? No. Why this might be can be explained very simply.

As James Doleman, who knows a little about this kind of thing, having done court reporting for some years, told, "Nice easy day for your lawyer. Note veritas is an absolute defence against libel".

And that's before considering what Tom Watson said about her behaviour at the DCMS select committee: "When James Murdoch sent an unsolicited second letter to the committee it was used by Louise Mensch to table a number of amendments effectively exonerating Murdoch junior from any of the accusations made by Colin Myler and Tom Crone".

No notification from Louise Mensch, or anyone acting on her behalf, has yet arrived on Zelo Street. And I doubt that one ever will]