Rothschild loses libel appeal

BILLIONAIRE financier Nat Rothschild has failed in his attempt to overturn the Daily Mail’s libel trial victory against him.

The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed Mr Rothschild’s action, which again drew attention to ‘the conduct and character’ of his close friend, ex-Labour minister and EU Trade Commissioner Lord Mandelson.

Mr Rothschild will now have to pay legal costs in excess of £1.3million. The legal action dates back to 010 when the Mail published a story about an undisclosed trip Lord Mandelson made to Moscow.

The Mail said in January 005, while EU trade commissioner, Mandelson had been flown from Switzerland to Moscow to be present at a dinner to mark the closure of a £500million business deal.

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska was selling aluminium plants to the US firm Alcoa. Rothschild was also Deripaska’s friend and business adviser.

The article suggested the trip exposed the then trade commissioner to questions of possible conflict of interest, given that he had a role in setting tariffs on aluminium imports into the EU.

Rothschild sued for libel, claiming the article wrongly portrayed him as having taken advantage of his friend.

In his judgment, Lord Justice Laws said that while the case had been brought by Rothschild alone, it ‘must inevitably throw light on the conduct and character of participants in the relevant events’.