Sunday, November 26, 2006

Iain Dale breaks his silence on my libel victory...

Iain Dale has responded, following Tom Watson's demand that he apologises to me which I posted on HERE.

In a comment on my blog today, Iain points out quite rightly that he didn’t repeat the allegations against me which became the subject of my libel case.

Iain’s not daft and could clearly see that the story about me was potentially libellous, as I eventually proved in High Court this week.

But the day the lies were published, Iain was quick as a rat-up-a-drainpipe to get posting and provide a link to the Mail-on-Sunday story.

Under the headline “Exposing the Real Face of New Labour” – and adding the infamous 1997 Tory “Demon Eyes” poster for extra effect – Iain praised Richard Gibbs, the source of the Mail-on-Sunday story, saying he ran an “excellent” blog.

Iain also said this:

Needless to say the Labour spin machine has swung into action and tried to trash Richard Gibbs by accusing him of joining the Conservative Party.
So who says the person who made the unfounded allegations against me was a member of the Conservative Party?

At the time, Richard Gibbs was co-author of a prominent weblog called The Cameron Leadership or TCL, a site then run by four members of the Conservative Party.

Iain Dale has a link to The Cameron Leadership on his own site so it wouldn't have been difficult to confirm that the Labour Party were telling the truth.

The opening page of The Cameron Leadership at the time confirmed that Richard Gibbs was one of four co-authors of the site who were all members of the Conservative Party.

It said:

“Richard Gibbs joined the Conservative’s (sic) in 2005…”
So is it really "spin" for the Labour Party to say Richard Gibbs was a member of the Conservative Party when he made the allegations?

Incidentally, Richard Gibbs’ own “excellent” site was taken down shortly after I issued libel proceedings against him and the Mail-on-Sunday.

Mr Gibbs no longer contributes to The Cameron Leadership (TCL) either.

The TCL site now says

Richard Gibbs posted on TCL for a while in early 2006. He has…retired from blogging for now.
So those are the facts.

I’m not going to fall out with Iain Dale over whether he owes me an apology or me or not. I’ve won everything I wanted in my libel case. I've been vindicated in the High Court and it’s time to move on.

Iain was gracious enough to say to me:

Well done for having the balls to take it to court and win. Not many would have seen it through to the bitter end.
Ever thinking of improving blogging, Iain adds the following:

Now, what are you going to spend your loot on? A badly needed new design for your blog perhaps?!!!
Er, probably not Iain. But thanks for the thought!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am suspecting the "substantial damages" will scarcely have paid for the fish and ships and taxi fare home. Unless a blog header is free, I suspect your party will have to sell a few (more) peerages to get you that Phil.

I suspect you confused Dale's silence with apathy.

A ton more hot air, but still no answer on WHY he should actually apologise.

Daniel Cremin said...

Congrats on winning your case Phil. Lets be honest though it will be when hell freezes over that you'll get a genuinely meant sorry from Iain Dale. Good for you anyway and nice to see the site is still going strong.

Iain Dale said...

Daniel, you say "Lets be honest though it will be when hell freezes over that you'll get a genuinely meant sorry from Iain Dale". You, Phil and Tom Watson have all said I should apologise, but none of you have been able to identify what I should be apologising for. I find this very strange.

fairdealphil said...

Iain:

i said this:

"I’m not going to fall out with Iain Dale over whether he owes me an apology or me or not. I’ve won everything I wanted in my libel case. I've been vindicated in the High Court and it’s time to move on."

Anonymous said...

Iain

You should have the good grace to set the record straight on your blog.

You gave the story legs. Praised Gibbs's blog as "excellent".

No one is accusing you of libeling Phil. It would just be nice if you could post something supportive on your own blog, since you commented on the original story, one would expect you to.

If you ever hope to be an MP you really need to stop being so arrogant. And occasionally, just occasionally, show a bit more respect to your political opponents - Phil has said nice things about you. You are not a teenage CCO functionary anymore - so stop acting like one.

I mean that in a constructive way.

Anonymous said...

Get over it - he won the case - why should Iain apologise for something - he hasnt done anything!!

Anonymous said...

I was in university with Richard Gibbs and he was a liar then a still continues to be one. In fact in University College Dublin, he was known as Dick Fibbs.

He forged my signature on a document which caused me my job, at least £100,000 and untold amount of stress and worry.

The sooner the world wakens up to the cheat Gibbs is the better it will be for everyone.