Lord McCalpine to sue Sally Bercow, wife of Commons Speaker

Lord McAlpine to sue Sally Bercow as he drops other Twitter claims


Lord McAlpine, the former Conservative party treasurer, has announced his
determination to sue Sally Bercow for damages after dropping claims against
non-celebrity Twitter users.








The Commons Speaker’s wife Sally
Bercow Photo:
GETTY





By Steven Swinford

12:31PM GMT 21 Feb 2013





Mrs Bercow, the wife of the Commons speaker, is being sued by Lord McAlpine
for naming him on Twitter after a report by BBC's Newsnight claimed a senior
Tory was a paedophile.


The peer has now ended his legal action against Twitter users with a
following of 500 people or less and asked them to make a donation of £25 to the
BBC's Children In Need.


However he said that his lawyers will continue to "focus on the action"
against Mrs Bercow, adding that any damages will be donated to the charity of
her choice.


He said: "I would like to now draw this unfortunate episode, forced into my
life, to a close. I have dropped all claims against those tweeters with less
than 500 followers, in return for a very modest donation to BBC Children In
Need.


"I have requested that my lawyers, RMPI LLP, focus on the action against
Sally Bercow and that damages arising from this are donated to a charity of her
choice. I am not intending to make any further comment on this matter.”




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In November last year the BBC's Newsnight broadcast a programme which wrongly
claimed that a senior Conservative was a paedophile.

Mrs Bercow, who had 57,000 Twitter followers, tweeted after the broadcast:
“Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*.”

She later apologised but maintained that her tweet was foolish rather than
libellous. She accused Lord McAlpine’s lawyers of being “ambulance chasers” and
“big bullies”, and claimed that the legal action against her was "totally
politically motivated".

Mrs Bercow, a Labour party activist, closed her Twitter account last year
after taking advice from her lawyers.

The BBC subsequently agreed to pay Lord McAlpine £185,000 plus costs for the
Newsnight report, and ITV reached a £125,000 settlement for making similar
allegations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22652083

A disappointing end to the Sally Bercow / Lord McAlpine case; another nail in the coffin for free speech.

Lord M has no more been cleared of suspicion than a couple of others who shall remain nameless. The fact that his word alone that he was not involved was accepted - rather than that the serious allegations against him were investigated properly - speaks volumes.

Not Born Yesterday wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22652083

A disappointing end to the Sally Bercow / Lord McAlpine case; another nail in the coffin for free speech.

Lord M has no more been cleared of suspicion than a couple of others who shall remain nameless. The fact that his word alone that he was not involved was accepted - rather than that the serious allegations against him were investigated properly - speaks volumes.

Actually NBY, Sally Bercow should have known better, being married to The Speaker of the House. Also, wasn't she the woman who went on "I'm a Celebrity"??? they make a right pair actually , he sounds like a barrow boy.

I'm not a fan of the celebrity shows but each to their own.

I still support Sally Bercow's right to say what she and others felt about the situation.

The only regrettable thing for me was that she chose Carter-Ruck as her solicitors - you'd have thought that would guarantee success!

Not Born Yesterday wrote:I'm not a fan of the celebrity shows but each to their own.

I still support Sally Bercow's right to say what she and others felt about the situation.

The only regrettable thing for me was that she chose Carter-Ruck as her solicitors - you'd have thought that would guarantee success!

Maybe they did not put up too much of a defence because , at the end of the day, you do not suggest anyone is a pedophile without proof.