JVL settles and apologises in libel case brought by journalist John Ware
Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, have reportedly settled and apologised in a libel case that was brought against them by the journalist, John Ware.
The libel action concerned comments made by Ms Wimborne-Idrissi, one of the group’s founders and its Media Officer, on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show, in which she claimed that Mr Ware had a “terrible record of Islamophobia, far-right politics” and that the BBC had in the past had to “apologise” for his journalism and discipline him.
The claims were then repeated on the JVL website, and JVL’s Web Officer, Richard Kuper, was also a defendant. Mr Kuper is the founder of Pluto Press, which was previously the publishing arm of the International Socialists, now known as the Socialist Workers Party. Mr Ware denied the claims made by Ms Wimborne-Idrissi.
Mr Ware was the maker of the BBC Panorama documentary “Is Labour Antisemitic”. The programme, which was televised in July 2019, showed former Labour Party employees speaking out publicly to reveal Jeremy Corbyn’s personal meddling in disciplinary cases relating to antisemitism. The programme explained how senior Labour Party staffers, some of whom Campaign Against Antisemitism has known for years, used to run Labour’s disciplinary process independently, but soon after Mr Corbyn’s election as Party leader found themselves contending with his most senior aides, who were brazen in their efforts to subvert due process. During the programme, Labour’s press team made claims that the staffers featured had political axes to grind and lacked credibility, and the whistleblowers and Mr Ware commenced libel proceedings against the Labour Party.
At a preliminary hearing to determine the ordinary meaning of Ms Wimborne-Idrissi’s words, she argued that they were just “honest opinion.” However, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that reasonable listeners would have understood the comments as statements of fact, namely that Mr Ware had “engaged in Islamophobia and extreme, far right politics, as a consequence of which the BBC has had to apologise for his conduct,” and that there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” that Mr Ware had “an extensive record of Islamophobia and of involvement in extreme, far-right politics.”
Mr Ware observed that he had never been disciplined on any matter by the BBC, had no “record of Islamophobia” and had never promoted “extreme far-right politics”.
Following this ruling, Ms Wimborne-Idrissi had to prove that these assertions of fact were true, which is a higher threshold than showing that they were mere honest opinions.
Mr Ware told Jewish News that “I can confirm my case against Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, JVL and Richard Kuper has been settled and that there will be a full apology made to me in open court next month.”
JVL subsequently wrote a tweet saying that they have a “large bill to pay”. It was reported that the group faces “financial collapse” due to the proceedings.
In a statement, JVL said: “Mediation in the case brought by John Ware against Jewish Voice for Labour and two of its officers has now occurred and we can announce that terms of settlement have been agreed, including an apology from Naomi Wimborne Idrissi and JVL for defamatory statements made on the Jeremy Vine Show and included in a Facebook post which we reproduced on our website on 15 July 2019. Once a statement of apology has been read out in open court it will be put up on our website.”
While the scale of any financial settlement has not been disclosed, it is being reported that JVL is crowdfunding for £200,000, telling supporters: “We now need your help more than ever if JVL is to survive and continue doing the work which is so much valued within our movement.”
In his recent report, Martin Forde QC ludicrously suggested that JVL should have a role in antisemitism education in the Labour Party, of which JVL is still, outrageously, considered a legitimate faction.
Ms Wimborne-Idrissi was recently elected to Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee.
The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
