Arron banks

Monday

Steerpike

Cadwalladr wins libel case against Banks

Visitors to Westminster this morning might have experienced a meteorological disturbance shortly after 10 a.m as SW1 types took a sharp intake of breath. For Carole Cadwalladr, the ever-online Observer journalist has today won her libel case against brash Brexit-backer Arron Banks, the founder of Leave.EU. Banks tried to sue Cadwalladr for defamation over two instances – one in a TED Talk video and another in a tweet. He claimed he was defamed after comments Cadwalladr made about his relationship with the Russian state. The High Court judgement follows a five day hearing in January and centred on comments she made in a TED talk in April 2019 and a tweet

Thursday

Douglas Murray

Carole Cadwalladr should now return her Orwell Prize

A small but significant event has just occurred. This morning the legal case between Arron Banks and the journalist Carole Cadwalladr was due to start. The case came about because of Cadwalladr’s claim that Arron Banks – who was a founder of the Leave.EU campaign (the non-official Leave campaign) – was offered money by the Russians. Cadwalladr has been going around for years making these and other unfounded accusations in every forum and on every platform she can manage. It is not as though her campaign has been obscure. The Observer newspaper has supported her, and as her entirely unsubstantiated claims grew, she was shamefully awarded the Orwell Prize for