A year on from food writer Jack Monroe’s venomous Twitter tirade that promised to enlist libel lawyers against Lee Anderson, Martin Daubney and anyone else caught in the firing line, and it’s all gone quiet on the lawsuit front. It seems the 12 month statute of limitations window in which Monroe could sue has swung shut. Perhaps Monroe saw it as a recipe for disaster…

Lee Anderson awoke in high spirits, telling Guido:

“After a long year of sleepless nights worrying about the threat of legal action it appears I can finally move on and get my life back. Freedom of speech is a bedrock of our society and people from all walks of life should be allowed to express their own opinions without fear of being dragged through the courts.”

Monroe’s cries of libel came in response to a Reclaim Party interview in which Martin Daubney mused that Monroe “probably earns more than the Prime Minister”, while Lee Anderson riposted Monroe’s jab of “rich, white privileged male” by comparing his own work to help the people of Ashfield with Monroe’s strategy of “taking money off some of the most vulnerable in society.” Who will be left eating their words?

Since then, Monroe has blown a gasket, referring to Lee as a “weaselly bullying turncoat, fundamentally dishonest, libellous, and seemingly f****** obsessed with me,” while excitedly touting front row seats to the largest libel lawsuit since her last libel lawsuit against Katie Hopkins:

“Lee Anderson making outrageous, libellous statements is he? And Martin Daubney encouraging and promoting them. Excellent. @mlewislawyer – got a job for you pal.”

Egged on by her followers, Monroe lauded the “very clear case of outright libel” before promising the accused “your papers will be in the post”, telling a follower that the accused were “being served legal letters” and announcing “gloves off. Lawyer instructed… Daubney, Anderson, Fox and co are playing a very expensive game of chicken.” Don’t count your chickens, eh?

Now that the window to serve papers has passed, Daubney observed that “Jack’s been unusually quiet” as he confirmed “zero contact” from the libel trigger finger Monroe and turned attention to the activist’s whip-round for legal fees, imploring the food writer to “answer questions about the missing funds for her non-existent legal case.” Monroe cryptically replied that the funds are “not missing: they’re exactly where they’ve always been, and I’m doing exactly what I said I’d do with it.” Perhaps there is a sting in the tall tail?