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Open Court Statement

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Open Court Statement Claim No: HQ09X02166 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION B E T W E E N ANDREW STUART MACKINLAY MP Claimant -and- BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION Defendant _________________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT IN OPEN COURT _________________________________________________________________________ Claimant’s Solicitor Advocate Paul Fox My Lord, in this libel case I appear for the claimant, Andrew MacKinlay MP. Robert Brosgill appears for the defendant, the BBC. Since 1992 Mr MacKinlay has been the Member of Parliament for Thurrock in Essex. He is one of the House’s most experienced backbench MPs and has served on Parliamentary Select Committees throughout his time in Parliament. Since 1997 he has served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. This action arises from an item broadcast on 30 April 2009 on Newsnight, the BBC’s evening current affairs programme (and thereafter on the BBC iPlayer) The programme alleged that Mr MacKinlay had proposed an amendment to a government motion on MPs’ expenses so that he would benefit financially and in that way had acted in an unprincipled and selfish way 1 and abused his position as an MP. This was untrue. Mr MacKinlay did not stand to benefit financially. Mr MacKinlay was deeply hurt and embarrassed by the broadcast. Whilst such an allegation would at any time be extremely damaging to Mr MacKinlay’s reputation both politically and personally, it was doubly so in the present febrile climate concerning MPs’ expenses. Mr MacKinlay was not prepared to allow the allegation to remain unchallenged and therefore brought this claim for libel. I am pleased to tell your Lordship that the BBC is here today, through its solicitor, to apologise to Mr MacKinlay for the broadcast. The BBC has agreed to pay Mr MacKinlay a substantial sum in damages, together with his legal costs. While Mr MacKinlay would have preferred that the broadcast had never happened he accepts that he has achieved all that he can by bringing these proceedings and feels suitably vindicated. He is prepared now to let the matter rest. Defendant’s Solicitor: I agree with everything that Mr Fox has said and, in particular, the BBC readily accepts that Mr MacKinlay had not stood to gain financially from the amendment he proposed. The BBC accepts that the allegation should not have been published and offers its apologies to Mr MacKinlay. Claimant’s Solicitor-Advocate: In the circumstances, I simply ask your Lordship for permission to withdraw the record. 2 .
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