Libel Law Reform

EDM number 423 in 2009-10, proposed by Evan Harris on 09/12/2009.
Categorised under the topic of Civil law.

That this House notes that human rights activists, scientists, writers and journalists are prevented from publishing, and the public prevented from reading, matters of strong public interest due to the chilling effect of English libel law; further notes that libel actions in England and Wales cost 100 times more than the European average; further notes that the costs of defending a libel case are usually prohibitive and that even successful defendants do not recover their full costs; and further notes the report of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights which criticises English libel law for its stifling of free expression globally due to libel tourism whereby foreign complainants bring cases against foreign writers for alleged libel in overseas publications; believes that public interest is endangered by powerful vested interests and corporations being able to intimidate writers into not publishing; recognises the recent report by Index on Censorship and English PEN, Free speech is not for sale andfurther notes the campaign for scientific freedom by Sense About Science; welcomes the formation of the Libel Reform Coalition to campaign for law reform; and calls for a re-casting of the libel laws such that, while individual reputation is protected against malicious or reckless smears, lawful free expression is not chilled and there is a fully effective public interest defence for both scholarship and responsible journalism.

This motion has been signed by a total of 256 MPs, 7 of these signatures have been withdrawn.

MP	Date	Constituency	Party	Type
Evan Harris	09/12/2009	Oxford West and Abingdon	Liberal Democrat	Proposed
Denis MacShane	09/12/2009	Rotherham	Labour	Seconded
Peter Bottomley	09/12/2009	Worthing West	Conservative	Seconded
Paul Farrelly	09/12/2009	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Labour	Seconded
Philip Davies	09/12/2009	Shipley	Conservative	Seconded
Adam Price	09/12/2009	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	Plaid Cymru	Seconded
Andrew MacKinlay	09/12/2009	Thurrock	Labour	Signed
Richard Shepherd	09/12/2009	Aldridge-Brownhills	Conservative	Signed
Adrian Sanders	09/12/2009	Torbay	Liberal Democrat	Signed
John Hemming	10/12/2009	Birmingham, Yardley	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Rudi Vis	10/12/2009	Finchley and Golders Green	Labour	Signed
Andrew George	10/12/2009	St Ives	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Lynne Jones	10/12/2009	Birmingham, Selly Oak	Labour	Signed
Brian Jenkins	10/12/2009	Tamworth	Labour	Signed
Eric Illsley	10/12/2009	Barnsley Central	Labour	Signed
Gordon Prentice	10/12/2009	Pendle	Labour	Signed
Ann Cryer	14/12/2009	Keighley	Labour	Signed
Andrew Dismore	14/12/2009	Hendon	Labour	Signed
Paul Truswell	14/12/2009	Pudsey	Labour	Signed
Steve Webb	14/12/2009	Northavon	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Ann Winterton	14/12/2009	Congleton	Conservative	Signed
Jim Devine	14/12/2009	Livingston	Labour	Signed
Willie Rennie	14/12/2009	Dunfermline and West Fife	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Annette Brooke	14/12/2009	Mid Dorset and North Poole	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Tom Levitt	14/12/2009	High Peak	Labour	Signed
Bob Laxton	14/12/2009	Derby North	Labour	Signed
Nick Palmer	14/12/2009	Broxtowe	Labour	Signed
Terry Rooney	14/12/2009	Bradford North	Labour	Signed
Nick Harvey	14/12/2009	North Devon	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Dai Havard	14/12/2009	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	Labour	Signed
Kate Hoey	14/12/2009	Vauxhall	Labour	Signed
Brian Iddon	14/12/2009	Bolton South East	Labour	Signed
Gerald Kaufman	14/12/2009	Manchester, Gorton	Labour	Signed
Sandra Gidley	15/12/2009	Romsey	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Mike Hancock	15/12/2009	Portsmouth South	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Anne Begg	15/12/2009	Aberdeen South	Labour	Signed
Graham Stringer	15/12/2009	Manchester, Blackley	Labour	Signed
Gisela Stuart	15/12/2009	Birmingham, Edgbaston	Labour	Signed
Robert Syms	15/12/2009	Poole	Conservative	Signed
Derek Wyatt	15/12/2009	Sittingbourne and Sheppey	Labour	Signed
Graham Stuart	15/12/2009	Beverley and Holderness	Conservative	Signed
Jo Swinson	15/12/2009	East Dunbartonshire	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Stephen Williams	15/12/2009	Bristol West	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Neil Gerrard	15/12/2009	Walthamstow	Labour	Signed
Martin Caton	15/12/2009	Gower	Labour	Signed
Gwyn Prosser	15/12/2009	Dover	Labour	Signed
Bob Russell	15/12/2009	Colchester	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Clare Short	15/12/2009	Birmingham, Ladywood	Independent Labour	Signed
Robert Smith	15/12/2009	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	Liberal Democrat	Signed
David Heath	15/12/2009	Somerton & Frome	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Paul Holmes	15/12/2009	Chesterfield	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Glenda Jackson	15/12/2009	Hampstead and Highgate	Labour	Signed
Charles Kennedy	15/12/2009	Ross, Skye and Lochaber	Liberal Democrat	Signed
John McDonnell	15/12/2009	Hayes and Harlington	Labour	Signed
Denis Murphy	15/12/2009	Wansbeck	Labour	Signed
Eric Joyce	16/12/2009	Falkirk	Labour	Withdrawn
David Anderson	16/12/2009	Blaydon	Labour	Withdrawn
Janet Dean	16/12/2009	Burton	Labour	Signed
Harry Cohen	16/12/2009	Leyton and Wanstead	Labour	Signed
Ann Clwyd	16/12/2009	Cynon Valley	Labour	Signed
Ian Cawsey	16/12/2009	Brigg and Goole	Labour	Signed
David Cairns	16/12/2009	Inverclyde	Labour	Signed
Jeffrey M Donaldson	16/12/2009	Lagan Valley	DUP	Signed
Fabian Hamilton	16/12/2009	Leeds North East	Labour	Signed
John Battle	16/12/2009	Leeds West	Labour	Signed
Richard Taylor	16/12/2009	Wyre Forest	Independent	Signed
Tim Farron	16/12/2009	Westmorland and Lonsdale	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Lynne Featherstone	16/12/2009	Hornsey and Wood Green	Liberal Democrat	Signed
John Leech	16/12/2009	Manchester, Withington	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Paul Burstow	16/12/2009	Sutton and Cheam	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Malcolm Bruce	16/12/2009	Gordon	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Parmjit Dhanda	16/12/2009	Gloucester	Labour	Signed
Jim Sheridan	16/12/2009	Paisley and Renfrewshire North	Labour	Signed
Bob Spink	16/12/2009	Castle Point	Independent	Signed
Tom Harris	16/12/2009	Glasgow South	Labour	Signed
Christopher Huhne	16/12/2009	Eastleigh	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Fraser Kemp	16/12/2009	Houghton and Washington East	Labour	Signed
Robert Key	16/12/2009	Salisbury	Conservative	Signed
Andrew Love	16/12/2009	Edmonton	Labour	Signed
Michael Moore	16/12/2009	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Malcolm Moss	16/12/2009	North East Cambridgeshire	Conservative	Signed
Doug Naysmith	16/12/2009	Bristol North West	Labour	Signed
Mark Oaten	16/12/2009	Winchester	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Graham Brady	16/12/2009	Altrincham and Sale West	Conservative	Signed
Joan Walley	05/01/2010	Stoke-on-Trent North	Labour	Withdrawn
Ian Taylor	05/01/2010	Esher and Walton	Conservative	Signed
Andrew Stunell	05/01/2010	Hazel Grove	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Gary Streeter	05/01/2010	South West Devon	Conservative	Signed
Gavin Strang	05/01/2010	Edinburgh East	Labour	Signed
Howard Stoate	05/01/2010	Dartford	Labour	Signed
Matthew Taylor	05/01/2010	Truro and St Austell	Liberal Democrat	Signed
John Thurso	05/01/2010	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Frank Field	05/01/2010	Birkenhead	Labour	Signed
Robert Wareing	05/01/2010	Liverpool, West Derby	Independent	Signed
Julia Goldsworthy	05/01/2010	Falmouth and Camborne	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Daniel Kawczynski	05/01/2010	Shrewsbury and Atcham	Conservative	Signed
David Howarth	05/01/2010	Cambridge	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Jim McGovern	05/01/2010	Dundee West	Labour	Signed
Anne Main	05/01/2010	St Albans	Conservative	Signed
Roger Berry	05/01/2010	Kingswood	Labour	Signed
Alan Beith	05/01/2010	Berwick-upon-Tweed	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Stephen Pound	05/01/2010	Ealing North	Labour	Signed
Alan Reid	05/01/2010	Argyll and Bute	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Jimmy Hood	05/01/2010	Lanark and Hamilton East	Labour	Signed
Chris McCafferty	05/01/2010	Calder Valley	Labour	Signed
Siobhain McDonagh	05/01/2010	Mitcham and Morden	Labour	Signed
Austin Mitchell	05/01/2010	Great Grimsby	Labour	Signed
Colin Burgon	05/01/2010	Elmet	Labour	Signed
Colin Challen	05/01/2010	Morley and Rothwell	Labour	Signed
John Cummings	05/01/2010	Easington	Labour	Signed
Mark Fisher	05/01/2010	Stoke-on-Trent Central	Labour	Signed
Don Foster	05/01/2010	Bath	Liberal Democrat	Signed
John Austin	05/01/2010	Erith and Thamesmead	Labour	Signed
Richard Bacon	05/01/2010	South Norfolk	Conservative	Signed
Norman Baker	05/01/2010	Lewes	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Chloe Smith	06/01/2010	Norwich North	Conservative	Signed
Adrian Bailey	06/01/2010	West Bromwich West	Labour	Signed
John Greenway	06/01/2010	Ryedale	Conservative	Signed
Louise Ellman	06/01/2010	Liverpool, Riverside	Labour	Signed
David Borrow	07/01/2010	South Ribble	Labour	Withdrawn
Dai Davies	07/01/2010	Blaenau Gwent	Independent	Signed
Mark Williams	07/01/2010	Ceredigion	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Lorely Burt	07/01/2010	Solihull	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Hywel Williams	07/01/2010	Caernarfon	Plaid Cymru	Signed
David Davies	07/01/2010	Monmouth	Conservative	Signed
Ronnie Campbell	07/01/2010	Blyth Valley	Labour	Signed
Paul Keetch	07/01/2010	Hereford	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Stephen Hesford	07/01/2010	Wirral West	Labour	Signed
Alan Simpson	07/01/2010	Nottingham South	Labour	Signed
John Pugh	07/01/2010	Southport	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Natascha Engel	11/01/2010	North East Derbyshire	Labour	Signed
Mike Gapes	11/01/2010	Ilford South	Labour	Signed
Tony Lloyd	11/01/2010	Manchester Central	Labour	Signed
Greg Mulholland	12/01/2010	Leeds North West	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Susan Kramer	12/01/2010	Richmond Park	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Katy Clark	12/01/2010	North Ayrshire and Arran	Labour	Signed
Robert Walter	12/01/2010	North Dorset	Conservative	Signed
John Barrett	12/01/2010	Edinburgh West	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Michael Ancram	12/01/2010	Devizes	Conservative	Signed
Tom Brake	12/01/2010	Carshalton and Wallington	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Michael Mates	12/01/2010	East Hampshire	Conservative	Signed
Kelvin Hopkins	12/01/2010	Luton North	Labour	Signed
Paul Rowen	13/01/2010	Rochdale	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Linda Riordan	13/01/2010	Halifax	Labour	Signed
Gordon Banks	13/01/2010	Ochil and South Perthshire	Labour	Signed
Roger Williams	13/01/2010	Brecon and Radnorshire	Liberal Democrat	Signed
David Davis	13/01/2010	Haltemprice and Howden	Conservative	Signed
Tom Clarke	13/01/2010	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill	Labour	Signed
Menzies Campbell	13/01/2010	North East Fife	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Paul Murphy	13/01/2010	Torfaen	Labour	Signed
Andrew Miller	13/01/2010	Ellesmere Port and Neston	Labour	Signed
Anne Moffat	13/01/2010	East Lothian	Labour	Signed
Eddie McGrady	14/01/2010	South Down	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Withdrawn
Ashok Kumar	14/01/2010	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland	Labour	Withdrawn
Bernard Jenkin	14/01/2010	North Essex	Conservative	Signed
Vincent Cable	14/01/2010	Twickenham	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Jim Cousins	14/01/2010	Newcastle upon Tyne Central	Labour	Signed
Edward Davey	14/01/2010	Kingston and Surbiton	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Diane Abbott	14/01/2010	Hackney North and Stoke Newington	Labour	Signed
Janet Anderson	18/01/2010	Rossendale and Darwen	Labour	Signed
Richard Caborn	18/01/2010	Sheffield Central	Labour	Signed
Bill Etherington	19/01/2010	Sunderland North	Labour	Signed
Peter Atkinson	19/01/2010	Hexham	Conservative	Signed
Desmond Turner	19/01/2010	Brighton, Kemptown	Labour	Signed
Kim Howells	20/01/2010	Pontypridd	Labour	Signed
Dan Rogerson	20/01/2010	North Cornwall	Liberal Democrat	Signed
David Heyes	21/01/2010	Ashton-under-Lyne	Labour	Signed
Sally Keeble	21/01/2010	Northampton North	Labour	Signed
George Galloway	25/01/2010	Bethnal Green and Bow	Respect	Signed
Jacqui Smith	25/01/2010	Redditch	Labour	Signed
Geoffrey Robinson	27/01/2010	Coventry North West	Labour	Signed
Derek Twigg	27/01/2010	Halton	Labour	Signed
David Drew	28/01/2010	Stroud	Labour	Signed
Julie Morgan	29/01/2010	Cardiff North	Labour	Signed
Nicholas Soames	29/01/2010	Mid Sussex	Conservative	Signed
Michael Clapham	01/02/2010	Barnsley West and Penistone	Labour	Signed
William McCrea	01/02/2010	South Antrim	DUP	Signed
Elfyn Llwyd	01/02/2010	Meirionnydd Nant Conwy	Plaid Cymru	Signed
Simon Hughes	01/02/2010	North Southwark and Bermondsey	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Norman Lamb	02/02/2010	North Norfolk	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Sarah Teather	02/02/2010	Brent East	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Richard Younger-Ross	02/02/2010	Teignbridge	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Danny Alexander	02/02/2010	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Martin Horwood	02/02/2010	Cheltenham	Liberal Democrat	Signed
David Chaytor	03/02/2010	Bury North	Labour	Signed
Bill Olner	04/02/2010	Nuneaton	Labour	Signed
David Hamilton	08/02/2010	Midlothian	Labour	Signed
Hywel Francis	09/02/2010	Aberavon	Labour	Signed
Jennifer Willott	09/02/2010	Cardiff Central	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Mark Hunter	10/02/2010	Cheadle	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Douglas Carswell	10/02/2010	Harwich	Conservative	Signed
Jeremy Browne	10/02/2010	Taunton	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Brian Binley	10/02/2010	Northampton South	Conservative	Signed
Phil Willis	10/02/2010	Harrogate and Knaresborough	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Jeremy Corbyn	10/02/2010	Islington North	Labour	Signed
Colin Breed	10/02/2010	South East Cornwall	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Lembit	10/02/2010	Montgomeryshire	Liberal Democrat	Signed
David Laws	10/02/2010	Yeovil	Liberal Democrat	Signed
John Mann	22/02/2010	Bassetlaw	Labour	Withdrawn
Kitty Ussher	22/02/2010	Burnley	Labour	Signed
Emily Thornberry	22/02/2010	Islington South and Finsbury	Labour	Signed
Patrick Hall	22/02/2010	Bedford	Labour	Signed
David Amess	22/02/2010	Southend West	Conservative	Signed
Ian Davidson	22/02/2010	Glasgow South West	Labour	Signed
Frank Cook	22/02/2010	Stockton North	Labour	Signed
Richard Burden	22/02/2010	Birmingham, Northfield	Labour	Signed
Mark Lazarowicz	22/02/2010	Edinburgh North and Leith	Labour	Signed
Malcolm Wicks	24/02/2010	Croydon North	Labour	Signed
David Curry	24/02/2010	Skipton and Ripon	Conservative	Signed
Andrew MacKay	24/02/2010	Bracknell	Conservative	Signed
Martin Salter	25/02/2010	Reading West	Labour	Signed
Stephen Hepburn	25/02/2010	Jarrow	Labour	Signed
John Horam	25/02/2010	Orpington	Conservative	Signed
David Wilshire	26/02/2010	Spelthorne	Conservative	Signed
Geraldine Smith	01/03/2010	Morecambe and Lunesdale	Labour	Signed
Joan Humble	01/03/2010	Blackpool North and Fleetwood	Labour	Signed
Andy Slaughter	01/03/2010	Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush	Labour	Signed
Michael Connarty	02/03/2010	Linlithgow and East Falkirk	Labour	Signed
Edward Leigh	02/03/2010	Gainsborough	Conservative	Signed
Sammy Wilson	03/03/2010	East Antrim	DUP	Signed
Anthony D Wright	03/03/2010	Great Yarmouth	Labour	Signed
Marsha Singh	04/03/2010	Bradford West	Labour	Signed
Jim Cunningham	04/03/2010	Coventry South	Labour	Signed
Kevin Barron	04/03/2010	Rother Valley	Labour	Signed
Nicholas Winterton	08/03/2010	Macclesfield	Conservative	Signed
Betty Williams	08/03/2010	Conwy	Labour	Signed
Chris Mullin	08/03/2010	Sunderland South	Labour	Signed
James Plaskitt	09/03/2010	Warwick and Leamington	Labour	Signed
Graham Allen	09/03/2010	Nottingham North	Labour	Signed
Tobias Ellwood	09/03/2010	Bournemouth East	Conservative	Signed
Mike Wood	10/03/2010	Batley and Spen	Labour	Signed
Clive Betts	10/03/2010	Sheffield, Attercliffe	Labour	Signed
Bruce George	10/03/2010	Walsall South	Labour	Signed
Jon Cruddas	10/03/2010	Dagenham	Labour	Signed
Martin Linton	10/03/2010	Battersea	Labour	Signed
Julie Kirkbride	11/03/2010	Bromsgrove	Conservative	Signed
Hugh Bayley	11/03/2010	City of York	Labour	Signed
Keith Vaz	11/03/2010	Leicester East	Labour	Signed
Michael Penning	11/03/2010	Hemel Hempstead	Conservative	Signed
Patrick Mercer	12/03/2010	Newark	Conservative	Signed
Pete Wishart	12/03/2010	Perth and North Perthshire	Scottish National Party	Signed
John Whittingdale	15/03/2010	Maldon and East Chelmsford	Conservative	Signed
George Howarth	15/03/2010	Knowsley North and Sefton East	Labour	Signed
Alistair Carmichael	16/03/2010	Orkney and Shetland	Liberal Democrat	Signed
Virendra Sharma	16/03/2010	Ealing, Southall	Labour	Signed
Lady Hermon	17/03/2010	North Down	UUP	Signed
Sandra Osborne	17/03/2010	Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock	Labour	Signed
Celia Barlow	17/03/2010	Hove	Labour	Signed
Mohammad Sarwar	22/03/2010	Glasgow Central	Labour	Signed
Paul Flynn	23/03/2010	Newport West	Labour	Signed
Michael Meacher	23/03/2010	Oldham West and Royton	Labour	Signed
Tony Baldry	24/03/2010	Banbury	Conservative	Signed
Mark Lancaster	24/03/2010	North East Milton Keynes	Conservative	Signed
Lindsay Roy	24/03/2010	Glenrothes	Labour	Signed
Robert Flello	30/03/2010	Stoke-on-Trent South	Labour	Signed
John Grogan	06/04/2010	Selby	Labour	Signed

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