Turley wins £75,000 in damages against UNITE and Skwawkbox.

The Dartford Warbler - Anna Turley

The former Labour MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, has won her High Court libel case against Unite the Union and Stephen Walker, who runs the 'Skwawkbox' blog. Mr Justice Nicklin, who presided over the High Court trial in London last month, ruled in her favour on Thursday, awarding Turley, £75,000 in damages plus costs.

Ms Turley, who originates from Dartford, Kent,  claimed in court that Unite had misused her private information and had issued a public statement in 2017, giving the impression that she was dishonest in her application to join the union. 

The Unite statement had said that Turley had wanted to join the union so she could vote against Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and undermine Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, without the union knowing she was an MP. Unite and Mr Walker had fought the case insisting that Ms Turley was not fit to be an MP and that the article - published on Skwawkbox- was true or justified in the public interest.

Turley who lost her parliamentary seat of Redcar in the general election, had been seeking £100,000 in damages, told the court: 

"My reputation for integrity and honesty are of the utmost importance to me."

A Unite spokeswoman said the union was "very disappointed" with the decision. Lawyers said Unite and Mr Walker wanted to appeal.