The MP Andrew Bridgen has been ordered to pay Matt Hancock greater than £40,000 in authorized charges after an early stage of their libel battle.
The MP for North West Leicestershire is bringing a libel declare in opposition to the previous well being secretary relating to a January 2023 message on X that adopted Bridgen posting a remark about Covid-19 vaccines.
The excessive courtroom in London beforehand heard that Bridgen wished to “clear his identify” after allegedly being accused of antisemitism in a “malicious” social media publish by the previous I’m a Movie star … Get Me Out of Right here! contestant.
On the earlier listening to, a decide was advised that Bridgen shared a hyperlink to an article about information on deaths and different antagonistic reactions linked to Covid vaccines, and acknowledged: “As one advisor heart specialist stated to me, that is the largest crime in opposition to humanity because the Holocaust.”
Hours later, Hancock wrote on X that “disgusting and harmful antisemitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories spouted by a sitting MP this morning are unacceptable and have completely no place in our society”.
Bridgen believes “each individual studying the tweet knew it was about me”, that it was “critically defamatory and unfaithful” and supposed to trigger “grievous hurt” to his fame, the courtroom was advised.
Hancock’s attorneys argued that the declare in opposition to him must be thrown out because it didn’t have a “lifelike prospect of success” and due to the “lack of a correctly articulated case”.
In a ruling final week, Mrs Justice Steyn “struck out” sure elements of Bridgen’s case however didn’t dismiss the entire declare, as a substitute giving the impartial MP an opportunity to make amendments and “treatment the deficiencies”. Bridgen was ordered to pay £44,300 in authorized prices to the MP for West Suffolk in a courtroom order on Thursday.
After the courtroom order was made public, Hancock wrote on X: “Glad the courtroom has awarded prices in opposition to Mr Bridgen at this stage of his absurd libel motion, and explicitly acknowledged that I used to be the profitable social gathering, opposite to Bridgen’s ridiculous claims on the time.
“Mr Bridgen ought to cease losing the courtroom’s time and drop this case now.”
Steyn added that if Bridgen, a former Conservative MP, didn’t present the main points of his amended declare or didn’t efficiently make the required utility, the libel declare can be thrown out totally.
