Last Wednesday, the
Jewish Chronicle was unequivocal in its assertion that former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was facing a defamation action. “
Jeremy Corbyn is facing legal action over his statement in relation to the settlement of the BBC Panorama libel claim. Mark Lewis, of Patron Law, confirmed he was representing the journalist John Ware in the legal action. Some of the antisemitism whistle-blowers have also joined the action”.
Mark Lewis
The basis for this bold assertion? “Mr Lewis said: ‘I confirm I have been instructed to pursue cases.’” For some bystanders, this brought back uneasy memories of the kind of behaviour indulged in by the late Robert Maxwell, who used the chilling effect of legal threats to silence his critics. Whatever the motivation, a crowdfunder was set up and has since raised more than £200,000 to cover Jezza’s defence costs.
But as time passed, it appeared that nothing had happened. Perhaps the need to get not only Ware, but also all those who featured in the
Panorama one-off “
Is Labour anti-Semitic?” lined up meant that it would take time to move the case forward? Perhaps there was a pause while Jezza was given the chance to retract the statement he put out on his Facebook page? The sceptical are, meanwhile, beginning to wonder.
As someone who has been on the wrong end of more than one Letter Before Action (LBA), I can confirm that it does not take two days plus from client and lawyer pressing the button to fire one off. And although the
Mirror confirms “
John Ware has asked lawyer Mark Lewis to initiate libel action”, their report then caveats that with “
It's understood a letter could be sent to Mr Corbyn in the coming days, the first step of a legal case”.
Only “
could be sent”? No LBA, no action. Indeed, the Sky News
report tells “
Jeremy Corbyn could face legal action after criticising Labour antisemitism apology” and goes on to quote John Ware’s response. “
There have been a couple of statements - one from [Len] McCluskey, and the other from Jeremy Corbyn - which seem to me to come dangerously close to suggesting, actually, what the Labour Party said about the whistleblowers and about me was true … I am advised that is defamatory”. And his next action?
John Ware
“
I am advised that I could continue with this (legal action) against Mr Corbyn personally … I'll think about that carefully”. Ware was speaking to Murdoch outlet
Times Radio on Wednesday evening. His comments appear to have been made after the
JC reported that an action was actually taking place. And there is one more factor to bear in mind.
It is highly likely that Jeremy Corbyn did not just throw together a response and publish it to Facebook without it having been run past his lawyer first, given the clear possibility that it could be seized upon and used as the basis of an action against him personally.
Mark Lewis knows who represents Corbyn. Had he been so instructed, he could have had an LBA on its way to them two days ago.
So what’s stopping him?
[Meanwhile, John Ware’s action against Paddy French of
Press Gang is going ahead, with a preliminary hearing taking place in October. Paddy is defending the action, but needs help to do so. You can contribute to his crowdfunder
HERE]
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Starmer paid a 6 figure sum to avoid the details of the Panorama "documentary" from being picked over in a court of law. Should the details behind the "documentary" become public then revelations might cause a domino cascade of realisations in the public conscience.
ReplyDeleteThis is why Ware will never be allowed to persue his "case" against Corbyn through the courts.
"a crowdfunder was set up and has since raised more than £200,000 to cover Jezza’s defence costs"
ReplyDeleteSo, the crowdfunder has reached over ten times its initial target in a matter of days. But the media monkeys told me Mr Corbyn was discredited and unpopular. I suppose 'Labour sources' will now have to reveal that Mr Corbyn's supporters are all anti-semites and raging commies. Nick Cohen will leap on this like an alcoholic on a bottle of meths in order to argue it's evidence of the authoritarianism of the left or something else that makes no sense whatsoever. Toby Young will say something offensive about eugenics. Twitter will break when all the hacks who are paid money to have their employers' opinions complain about their free speech and assert that Mr Corbyn was trying to 'cancel' the whistleblowers. Minor celebrities and politicians will threaten violence against people and then complain when they themselves receive the slightest criticism for their actions. And Suella Braverman will blame the Jews, sorry, Cultural Marxists; although what she has against Adorno's claim that it is not true that in the late work of Beethoven the subjective overwhelms the unity of the whole is beyond me.
Adorno why fascists hate the F-scale so much!
DeleteDon't be so fast old boy. Mark Lewis took his time with the Riley and Oberman Twitter affair. I suspect it will come, though common sense should prevail my dear man.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Paddy French does need out help and support right now. I was telling that to my dear friend Abbers
The ttuth is John Ware knows he would lose, there were clear breaches of impartiality and deliberate omissions in the documentary and a judge would probably order him to pay costs.
ReplyDeleteThey never intended to sue, the point was they got to call Corbyn an antisemite again.
I hope they do go ahead, but they won't and while Mark Lewis is a complete twat, I don't believe he's that stupid.
This was about attacking Jeremy again nothing more, and now it will quietly be dropped and forgotten, but a few more people will believe untrue things about Jeremy and by extension all of us who support him
Perhaps we should be made to wear some sort of badge so the racists and the wider public can identify us as 'antisemites'.
DeleteMy dear Malcolm, a little too much faith in common sense, n'est-ce pas?
ReplyDeleteThe consensus here appears to be the suit will not be brought due to the risk of what might be revealed in court and that therefore a discreet silence will prevail. However, the inevitable backlash against the crowdfunder has now begun: "Jeremy Corbyn urged to reject donations to £170k 'fighting fund' from supporters posting offensive comments" (The Telegraph). Then, the EHRC report is to come. And then there will be Keeves' reaction. Followed by the reaction of those named, followed by threats of law suits et cetera et cetera.
Might Mr Corbyn actually want his day in court in order to establish what we all know to be true?
Isn't it odd - not to say startling - how life can imitate fiction?
ReplyDeleteTake the US version of House of Cards, season 1 (1913), episodes 2 and 6. The former depicts how the villain "Frank Underwood" attacks a rival through a false propaganda construct of antisemitism. The latter depicts an attack on "Underwood" where a brick is thrown through a window - an action set up by "Underwood" himself to gain sympathy.
Curiously, the version currently on Prime Video omits crucial dialogue from episode 2, in which "Underwood" specifically states a major tactic should be to accuse a rival of antisemitism whose policy is exactly opposite that vice. However, the original version can still be viewed at alternative illegal websites.
The series itself was a classic presentation of everything wrong in what passes for US "democracy". Unfortunately it tailed off badly because of the all too real Kevin Spacey ("Frank Underwood") sex scandal.
But how very odd we should see a repeat in British "democracy" just a few years later......
It's very clear that Starmer's capitulation to the antisemitism smear merchants was all arranged well in advance. Why else would John Ware's band of professional onion sniffers, seek to pursue legal action they must have been told was a losing proposition. Indeed, Labour's own legal counsel considered the action by Ware et al to be frivolous, without merit, and with no meaningful chance of success. What he has done is the poker equivalent of holding a Royal Flush, and folding to an opponent with a pair of 2's.
ReplyDeleteAs to the quid pro quo, the dogs will be called off, and Starmer will be hailed as having saved the party from a crisis which never actually existed.
@12:58
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of fascists taking tests, there's a great video of Ben Shapiro completing The Political Compass and managing to completely pawn himself in the process. He continually complains the questions show a left-wing bias even though they're all of the agree/disagree type. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't come out as a no-nonsense libertarian. Quite the reverse.
To 13:22.
ReplyDeleteI think that's (2013).😊