We’re helping The New European sue Michelle Mone

Michelle Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman have finally admitted they lied to a number of journalists about their role in the PPE scandal. But the pair have been issuing legal threats against media outlets who published stories about the £200m of Government contracts given to PPE Medpro – stories it now turns out were true all along.

We won’t let wealthy individuals with powerful connections silence media organisations and campaigners working to expose the truth. So we’re supporting The New European to launch a case against Michelle Mone early in the new year.

The newspaper has spent thousands of pounds defending itself against Mone’s legal threats, and we think there is a legal mechanism to recover those costs – where there is ‘deceit’.

And they’re not the only ones. Media outlets such as the Guardian, The Mirror, Byline Times, The National and Tortoise – as well as many other freelance reporters – have had to spend time and money dealing with defamation threats because of their reporting on PPE Medpro.

“The law must not allow itself to become a tool whereby those with money can bully and silence those with none,” said the Executive Director of Good Law Project, Jo Maugham. “We aim to create further jeopardy for those who engage in these kinds of egregious breaches.”

“Mone sought to pretend that the Lady M yacht had nothing to do with her,” said Matt Kelly, Editor in Chief of The New European. “That is a nonsense.”

“We were forced to spend several thousand pounds of costs in legal fees responding to her mendacious threats. We want our money back,” he added. “More than that, we want to establish a future deterrent against wealthy individuals willing to lie to stymie honest reporting. We look forward to seeing Mone in court in the new year.”

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