A tweet by Commons Speaker’s wife Sally Bercow about Lord McAlpine was libellous, the High Court in London has ruled.
Lawyers for Lord McAlpine said the tweet – which read “Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*”- pointed “the finger of blame” at the Tory peer during a media frenzy over allegations of child sex abuse.
Damages are to be decided at a later date, unless a settlement is reached.
Sally Bercow arriving at court
No new law would have prevented the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, Eric Pickles said, as several politicians clamoured for the government to rethink the “snooper’s charter.’
The government will examine what powers it requires following the brutal Woolwich killing, the Communities Secretary said on Friday.
But Pickles said he did not believe any measures in a mooted communications data bill, dubbed the “snooper’s charter”, would have prevented the death of the soldier in Woolwich.
The government will re-examine what powers it requires, Pickles has said
Two men suspected of hacking a British soldier to death in a “sickening” attack in Woolwich were already known to security services, it has been confirmed.
One of the men is believed to have been born in Britain, while the other is said to be from Nigeria.
Think our spring weather is bad?
Nasa says it’s also spring on Saturn’s moon Titan – and by comparison a bit of hail and drizzle is nothing.
The seasons take about seven years to change on Saturn’s largest moon. The strange alien world was dark when Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft arrived in 2004, but the sun has now crossed Titan’s equatorial plane at equinox, and the northern hemisphere of the moon is starting to warm up.
Above: Ligeia Mare, shown here in data obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, is the second largest known body of liquid on Saturn’s moon Titan.
Boris Johnson has said it was wrong to link yesterday’s murder of a soldier in Woolwich with British foreign policy or the actions of Britain’s armed forces overseas.
“The fault lies wholly and exclusively in the warped and deluded mindset of the people who did it,” he said. “What we need to do now, for the sake of the victim and the sake of his family, is for these killers to be brought to justice.”
A Liberal Democrat MP has apologised for calling a student a “little shit” after he was questioned about his vote on the gay marriage bill.
Greg Mulholland told Huffington Post UK: “I was of course wrong to call him a shit. But I would rather be called a shit, a bigot or a wanker than be called homophobic.”
English: David Cameron is a British politician, Leader of the Conservative Party (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Gay weddings moved a step closer on Monday evening after David Cameron was forced to accept Ed Miliband‘s help to defeat an attempt by backbench Tory MPs, who complained about the “aggressive homosexual community”, to derail the legislation.
Anti-gay marriage Conservatives had tabled an amendment to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill that, if passed, would have introduced civil partnerships for heterosexuals at the same time as gay marriage.
However the government had warned that to do so could cost up to £4bn and significantly delay the implementation of the entire bill. A vote in the Commons saw the amendment overwhelmingly defeated by 375 votes to 70.
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Former Conservative defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth has warned of the dangers of the “aggressive homosexual community”.
The Aldershot MP was speaking during the Commons debate on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill on Monday evening. Sir Gerald said he opposed the bill as he believed it would restrict the freedom of speech of people who were opposed to same-sex weddings for religious reasons.
The fear that the gay may marriage bill could be derailed by a backbench Tory “wrecking” amendment appears to have been lifted after the Labour Party said it would not vote with anti-gay marriage Conservatives.
A change to Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill tabled by Conservative Tim Loughton and due to be put to a vote on Monday would introduce civil partnerships for heterosexuals at the same time as gay weddings.
Tory MPs are engaged in a “dark” and “cynical” move to wreck the gay marriage bill equality campaigners have warned, as the government prepares to lose a key vote in the Commons on Monday.
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill returns to the Commons today for two further days of debate today. MPs led by Conservative Tim Loughton have tabled an amendment that would expand civil partnerships to include heterosexual couples.
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