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. 

Unite drop dishonesty allegation against Turley.

Anna Turley

UNITE the UNION have withdrawn the allegation of 'dishonesty' that they made against Anna Turley who has brought a High Court libel action against Unite and Stephen Walker, who runs the blog, Skwawkbox.  Unite has now withdrawn a claim that Ms Turley lied about receiving union mail.

Anthony Hudson QC, representing the union and Mr Walker, told the judge that he had been instructed to withdraw an allegation that Ms Turley had lied about receiving mail from the union.

Turley, the then Member of Parliament for Redcar, had  incorrectly applied to join the union under a Community membership category, which is for people not in paid employment. Mr Hudson, told the court that Turley would have known this, but she has told the court that she thought she was entitled to join.

Ms Turley said:  'My reputation for honesty and integrity are of the upmost 'importance to me.'

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Labour candidate sues Unite & Skwawkbox for libel in High Court.

The Dartford Warbler - Anna Turley MP

Anna Turley (40) is hoping to retain her parliamentary seat of Redcar in the forthcoming general election on 12 December. Turley has been the Member of Parliament for Redcar since 2015.  A former Home Office civil servant from Dartford in Kent, Turley was elected to stand in the Redcar constituency in 2013, from an all-women shortlist.

Three years ago she made the headlines after calling Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, an 'arsehole' on twitter. Turley has now made the headlines because she's suing Unite over an article published on Skwawkbox that related to an application she made for union membership. She's also suing Stephen Walker, a journalist who writes, edits, and publishes Skwawkbox, and says that Unite also misused her private information. Unite and Walker are fighting the case at a High Court trial in central London.

Yesterday, Anthony Hudson QC, who represents Unite, told Mr. Justice Nicklin that Turley had been dishonest and 'regrettably' was "not fit to be an MP." He added: "Turley's dishonesty permeates through every part of the case." 

The court was also told that Turley had wanted to join a trade union with the ultimate aim of ousting her own party leader Jeremy Corbyn and had links to a WhatsApp group opposing Corbyn. The court was also told that she had broken the rules when applying to join the union at the reduced rate of 50p a week. 

The trial is due to last several days with lawyers outlining their case to the Judge.