LONDON: A tweet by the wife of the British parliament’s speaker about a senior Conservative politician in the wake of reports of child sex abuse was libellous, the High Court in London ruled yesterday.
Sally Bercow said she was “surprised and disappointed” by the judgement, but a lawyer for Lord Alistair McAlpine said it should serve as “a warning to, and guidance for, people who use social media.” Bercow, the wife of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, wrote on Twitter: “Why is Lord McAlpine trending? Innocent face” two days after a BBC TV report last year wrongly implicated an unnamed leading Conservative in allegations of sex abuse at a children’s home in Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.
AFP
