Six-figure damages for former Minister over ‘unfounded’ claims
A CONSERVATIVE MP has received six-figure damages and a public apology at London’s High Court over “utterly unfounded” allegations of sexual misconduct made in a newspaper by a fellow Tory parliamentarian.
Dr Daniel Poulter, who represents the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency, was the subject of articles in The Sunday Times in November 2017, including one by fellow Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen.
Mr Bridgen, whose represents North West Leicestershire, claimed in the article he had heard complaints from three female MPs that they were reluctant to get in a lift with Dr Poulter after he put his hand up their skirts. Mr Bridgen also alleged that a complaint he made to the whip’s office in 2010 had met with no interest and he had repeated it to the Conservative Party’s regulatory
body, which was set up in 2017 in the wake of the Westminster sex scandal. Another article appeared under the headline ‘Tory former Minister accused of putting hand up MPs skirts’.
Mr Bridgen’s complaint was dismissed in March last year, with the investigating officer noting that no female MP had made any complaint against Dr Poulter and there was no reliable evidence to support it. The Sunday Times reported the dismissal of the case but refused to apologise or remove online articles, prompting Dr Poulter to take legal action.
Mr Justice Nicol was told yesterday publisher Times Newspapers Ltd had agreed to pay “substantial” damages as well as Dr Poulter’s legal costs, and to remove online articles.
Dr Poulter said: “These utterly unfounded allegations were published against me at a time of enormous frenzy about the supposed misconduct and wrongdoing of various MPs.
“Like many of the lurid claims made against numerous MPs at that time, they have been proved to be entirely without foundation – as I always knew them to be.”