Government Minister Eric Pickles raises concerns about Carmarthenshire Council funding libel action of chief executive Mark James
A UK Government minister has revealed his concerns about Carmarthenshire Council using public money to sue a blogger.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles was at a Westminster lunch for journalists when he spoke about the case involving Jacqui Thompson and the council's chief executive Mark James.
Mrs Thompson lost her libel case against Mr James and was ordered to pay him £25,000 in damages.
She had sued him following a letter sent to councillors, with Mr James counter-suing her for five blog posts — using taxpayers' money to fund the action — but High Court Mr Justice Tugendhat dismissed her claim.
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Mr Pickles said he was "deeply unhappy" about the "tendency" for local authorities to use the "resources of the public" to initiate legal action.
"I have no problem about a councillor or an officer (defending) their position when they are acting on behalf (of their council)," he said.
"What I am very wary of, very worried about (is) where authorities have used their position to take on individuals or newspapers and to use the resources of the public to initiate an action."
He acknowledged, however, that his "remit" did not extend to Wales.
The legal spat developed after Mrs Thompson was removed from a council meeting and arrested after she refused to stop filming it in June 2011.
A Carmarthenshire Council spokeswoman said: "It's disappointing to note that Eric Pickles criticises local government for using the powers they have in exceptional circumstances to assist officers to bring defamation proceedings to clear their names when they've personally been defamed for doing their job.
"The judge's findings demonstrate what they've had to endure just because of being employees."
She added that Mrs Thompson would not have to pay the legal costs because she was insured under a conditional fee arrangement.
4 Comments
by evan_owen
Friday, March 22 2013, 12:53PM
“How do you insure against a counterclaim? I don't think the LA spokesperson understands what a CFA is!
This lady could be bankrupted thanks to this.”
by Carnabwth
Thursday, March 21 2013, 4:49PM
“If you speak out against Carmarthenshire County Council or question any wrongdoing they will come down heavy on you. As in Llandybie you will have a county councillor that will do Mark James' work for him by showing aggression and threats of violence.
I carry the t shirt from that same "plastic maffia".
In 2006 there was a meeting of the people in Carmarthen. Amidst the hundreds present was former MP Adam Price. Nothing has changed.
In 2007 there was a further meeting of the people. Amidst those hundreds present were victims of Planning inequality. Nothing has changed.
Perhaps these hundreds should have shown their force in London. Sadly Mrs Thompson fought Goliath on her own.”
by maxmin
Thursday, March 21 2013, 11:14AM
“Which is exactly the comment I made on the original report on the case. Some years ago I represented a group of people whose income was decided by a council committee. They hadn't had a rise for six years and were asking for an extra 5p an hour. The committee turned them down. I then did some digging and found the members of the committee had the previous year between the ten of them pocketed just under half a million taxpayer pounds for salaries and expenses.
I had this information printed off which showed what each member had pocketed and stuck the details off all over Llanelli. I informed the local paper and they ran a piece on it. When asked for comments the committee members instead of holding their heads in shame, threatened me with legal action. I told the paper I was looking forward to the case and would be defending myself. They backed down - which was a pity I was looking forward to spilling all the details in open court.”
by maxmin
Thursday, March 21 2013, 11:13AM
“Which is exactly the comment I made on the original report on the case. Some years ago I represented a group of people whose income was decided by a council committee. They hadn't had a rise for six years and were asking for an extra 5p an hour. The committee turned them down. I then did some digging and found the members of the committee had the previous year between the ten of them pocketed just under half a million taxpayer pounds for salaries and expenses.
I had this information printed off which showed what each member had pocketed and stuck the details off all over Llanelli. I informed the local paper and they ran a piece on it. When asked for comments the committee members instead of holding their heads in shame, threatened me with legal action. I told the paper I was looking forward to the case and would be defending myself. They backed down - which was a pity I was looking forward to spilling all the details in open court.”