Sally Bercow's Twitter case blow
SPEAKER’S wife Sally Bercow yesterday lost the first skirmish with Lord McAlpine in his libel action over her alleged Twitter slur.
The Tory peer’s lawyers persuaded High Court judge Mr Justice Tugendhat to hear his case in two separate hearings.
Sally Bercow denies her tweet was defamatory
The first will decide whether Mrs Bercow’s tweet last year – “Why is Lord McAlpine trending? innocent face” – was capable of being defamatory.
It followed a BBC Newsnight report that wrongly linked an unnamed senior Tory to child sex abuse claims.
The peer claims the tweet identified him as the subject of the false allegations.
His lawyers said only “a moron in a hurry” would not have made the connection.
If the tweet is found to be defamatory – which Mrs Bercow denies – a second hearing will rule on damages.
Lord McAlpine has received defamation payouts from the BBC and ITV.