Friday, 19 March 2010

RIP Harry's Place

Your likelihood of beating George Galloway in an English libel court is absolutely nil.
Posted by at

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous19 March 2010 at 17:18

    On what basis do you make this statement?

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  2. David Lindsay19 March 2010 at 17:25

    He has form.

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  3. Smiff19 March 2010 at 21:36

    So did Sonia Sutcliffe. Until she lost.

    In all seriousness, David, do you think Galloway has a case, or are you just using this as an excuse to have a pretty weak pop at Harry's Place? I've read the alleged libel, and it will be very interesting to see if he actually has the cojones to take it to court. Especially after demanding hush money.

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  4. David Lindsay20 March 2010 at 00:48

    Keep telling yourself that, Smiff. Keep telling yourself that...

    This action is the end of Harry's Place. Very good riddance indeed.

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  5. Anonymous20 March 2010 at 13:38

    That doesn't answer the question - do you think he has a good case? Based on my limited knowledge of libel law I wouldn't have thought so but I could be wrong.

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  6. David Lindsay20 March 2010 at 16:35

    It is very difficult for a plaintiff to lose a libel action in England, and however controversial Galloway may be, he is still an MP while they are still, not even print journalists (and judges dislike those enough), but bloggers. He is home and dry. And Harry's Place is sunk.

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  7. Anonymous20 March 2010 at 17:14

    Here David you know what happened to the last nutter who went around saying 'the last days of Harry's Place' all the time don't you?

    You are undoubtedly for the bucket-kicking my friend - you can't beat the hex!

    Love Graham xxxx

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  8. Ringsta20 March 2010 at 19:08

    Why would a lawsuit aimed at an individual lead to the end of a group blog? Especially as Galloway's complaint concerned a comment posted elsewhere?

    Surely if Galloway sues the publication as well as the individual (as is much more usual with regard to libel actions), it's Socialist Unity whose existence is threatened? Especially as the alleged libel was still there as of a few seconds ago?

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  9. Anonymous20 March 2010 at 19:17

    If Galloway is successful how will it be the end of Harry's Place?

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  10. David Lindsay20 March 2010 at 19:21

    Anonymous, we will soon find out.

    Ringsta, it is still a libel to repeat a libel, but you don't also have to sue the original source. And Galloway is not doing so.

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  11. Remur20 March 2010 at 22:31

    It is very difficult for a plaintiff to lose a libel action in England, and however controversial Galloway may be, he is still an MP while they are still, not even print journalists (and judges dislike those enough), but bloggers.

    David Irving and Neil Hamilton might beg to differ with your first point - and of course Jonathan Aitken was still an MP when he not only sued the Guardian for libel but made that ridiculous speech about "the shining sword of truth". I suspect you remember how that one turned out.

    He is home and dry. And Harry's Place is sunk.

    Has Galloway sued - or even threatened to sue - Harry's Place specifically? Everything I've seen suggests that he's going after David Toube as a private individual, so how would this "sink" a blog that has numerous contributors?

    I'm sensing a fair bit of wishful thinking here.

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  12. David Lindsay20 March 2010 at 22:34

    Harry Place without David T? There's no such thing, any more than vice versa.

    And I don't know when David Irving has ever been an MP.

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  13. Remur20 March 2010 at 22:59

    Harry Place without David T? There's no such thing, any more than vice versa.

    Even assuming one accepts this (which I don't: HP managed perfectly well before David T came on board and has far more regular writers now), I still don't follow your logic. Even if David T is personally sued for libel and loses, how will this prevent him from continuing to write for Harry's Place?

    And I don't know when David Irving has ever been an MP.

    He hasn't, and Neil Hamilton wasn't an MP when he sued Mohamed Fayed. But they were both plaintiffs who rather famously lost high-profile libel actions, something you claim is "very difficult".

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  14. David Lindsay20 March 2010 at 23:02

    I didn't say that it was impossible.

    For one of its highest-profile writers to lose a libel action to Galloway would be fatal to Harry's Place.

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  15. Remur20 March 2010 at 23:11

    For one of its highest-profile writers to lose a libel action to Galloway would be fatal to Harry's Place.

    How would that work, then? Ian Hislop has probably lost more libel actions than any man alive, and yet he still continues to edit Private Eye - in fact, he's approaching his 25th anniversary in the job.

    I really don't see how goading a prominent public figure into the considerable expense of launching a libel action can possibly damage your reputation if you've always openly promoted yourself as someone who specialises in airing other people's dirty laundry in public. I'd have thought it would be more of a badge of honour.

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  16. David Lindsay20 March 2010 at 23:21

    You don't read Harry's Place, do you?

    We are talking about it and Galloway here.

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  17. Anonymous21 March 2010 at 00:09

    They'd never live it down.

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  18. Remur21 March 2010 at 08:10

    You don't read Harry's Place, do you?

    Not daily, but regularly enough with it to have a pretty good grasp of the situation. And I've certainly read the alleged libel (which is still visible on Socialist Unity) and all the commentary around it.

    We are talking about it and Galloway here.

    Actually, we should be talking about David Toube and George Galloway, and possibly Socialist Unity as the publisher of the alleged libel. Going from the two legal letters sent so far, Harry's Place has no direct involvement in this spat as far as I can see, and unless the blog is sued directly, I can't see how any outcome, even a Galloway victory, will affect it.

    And even if Galloway does sue Harry's Place, this is where my Private Eye comparison becomes apt. Despite Hislop's track record in the libel courts, it's generally accepted that he's right more often than he's wrong (otherwise the mag would have folded years ago) - and since HP has been attacking Galloway for over half a decade, unless he sues and wins over every single allegation, how is a single libel victory over a single matter going to change much?

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  19. Anonymous21 March 2010 at 16:10

    If Galloway wins, how will that cause Harry's Place to be shut down? All that happens is David T has to cough up 50K.

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  20. David Lindsay21 March 2010 at 23:23

    Rattled.

    Very, very rattled indeed...

    A mere fifty grand? He should be so lucky.

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