Today in the Commons Richard Tice hit out at Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson over the government’s “deeply misguided” VAT hike on private schools. The Reform MP challenged the minister over the impending state school “capacity crisis”, a product of “thousands of children being forced out of independent schools.” Tice making himself a grade A headache already…

This comes after it was revealed some state schools are asking parents to prove they can no longer afford their private school fees to secure a place at a local state school. This is just the beginning…

The Reform MP said: “I have a list of 20 schools in Buckinghamshire alone that have no places whatsoever. In Bristol, the City Council is considering buying places from an independent school.” If this happened, it would mean a child attending private school at the taxpayers’ expense, despite having just been there at their parents’ expense. Labour logic…

This week Baroness Stowell, who chairs the Communications and Digital Committee, told the Lords that

“SLAPPs* are illegitimate and aggressive lawfare, used by all kinds of the rich and powerful to silence politicians, journalists and public bodies. They are an abuse of our legal system, and they are a threat to press freedom.”

Stowell reminded them that just before the Dissolution for the general election, they were very close to outlawing SLAPPs in their entirety, through the then Government supporting a Labour MP’s Private Member’s Bill. The legislation had bipartisan support from Labour and the Tories.

She asked the Justice Minister Lord Ponsonby

“Would the Minister ensure that his Government supported another Private Member’s Bill, if another MP was to bring forward a revised version that incorporated all the amendments and agreements reached with the previous Government before the general election? If not, could he commit to the Government bringing forward their own legislation in this first Session of Parliament to outlaw SLAPPs comprehensively?”

He assured her that “the Government are taking the matter very seriously and are establishing working parties, working at pace to try to address this issue.” As well they might given one of their own number is on the receiving end of just such aggressive lawfare, being used by a rich and powerful oligiarch to silence politicians and journalists.

Lord Bailey, Richard Tice MP and Guido’s editor, Paul Staines, are fighting Dale Vince’s lawfare in his attempt to silence us for criticising his equating of Hamas with freedom fighters. He’s already intimidated three MPs who commented on his characterisation of Hamas into withdrawing their words. All of them felt it was fair comment and only backed down under financial duress. Shaun Bailey can’t afford to fight an expensive SLAPP defamation case, yet feels he has to stand his ground no matter the consequences and sleepless nights. For mega-rich Dale Vince it is in his own words, “a bit of fun” suing us. 

Anti-SLAPP** legislation isn’t just about stopping foreign oligarchs from abusing the legal system, it is about stopping homegrown oligarchs avoiding scrutiny too. Free speech underpins democracy, it is crucial that rich, political donors with connections to those in power are not able via the courts to intimidate critics into silence.

*Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation

**Dale’s lawyers have written to claim that Guido even opining that Dale’s action is a SLAPP is in itself defamatory. Paradoxically if they really did sue for claiming his action was a SLAPP it would arguably prove beyond doubt that it was indeed a SLAPP.

Dale Vince has briefed the Guardian that he is suing Guido’s editor for daring to publish the actual words he said in an interview with Times Radio’s Stig Abell.

Dale – who retains the services of former Boris spinner Lee Cain – also briefed the Guardian that he is going to block Guido from being read in Britain by getting a judge to order internet service providers to create Dale’s own personal firewall to censor Guido – in the same way the Chinese Communist Party operates a political firewall on the internet. Guido would in Dale’s fantasy become Samizdata, read in Starmer’s Britain only by tech savvy users or on the dark web.

Vince says he is going to have to do this because Guido has kept his servers (and the editor himself) offshore and ignored British court orders for twenty years. Guido could of course continue to do so…

For the first time in twenty years I am not going to avail of that safe haven protection. I will, along with Richard Tice and Shaun Bailey not be going down on bended knee to this thin-skinned, narcissistic bully. We have no intention of apologising for reporting and commenting on his disgraceful equivocation. We’re going to make a stand and defend free speech and our reporting of the actual words he said.

Dale Vince is also suing Reform’s Richard Tice MP and Lord Bailey for commenting on his claim regarding Hamas that “one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist“. Likewise he threatened to sue (now former) Tory MPs Andrew Percy, Mark Jenkinson and Michael Fabricant. The Tory MPs reluctantly agreed a mutual statement on the advice of the Conservative Party’s lawyers rather than risk an expensive legal battle. None of them wanted to, all of them thought their comments were fair and told Guido that regrettably they had to withdraw them under financial duress. Not one of the MPs wanted to back down, they just did not want to risk a costly battle.

GB News made an apology for Shaun Bailey’s on air comments at the insistence of their legal insurers. Lord Bailey is however standing by the truth of his comments. He is a Christian and refuses to be bullied by Dale Vince’s lawyers into making a statement that he believes is untrue.

Dale is not suing any of the many other publications that reported his outrageous characterisation of Hamas as freedom fighters. The Labour Party donor is only threatening his perceived political opponents, using his vast wealth to bully them into not criticising him. This meets the legal definition of a SLAPP – a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. A favourite tactic of publicity shy oligarchs who don’t like scrutiny.

Dale’s been claiming – so far unchallenged – that the clip was edited. It was not edited or manipulated or spliced in any way, it was one contiguous 16 second clip of the only really newsworthy and widely reported part of the Times Radio interview and the context is clear:

While we’re on the subject of extremist donors and returning their donations…https://t.co/rkaxVMJqZR pic.twitter.com/NxHEgrBKKz

— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) March 13, 2024

Dale has only just realised that unlike GB News’ insurers or the Tory MPs we are going to stand up to him. We’re not apologising and we’re not settling. We’re fighting to defend our reporting of the truth and his attempts to censor criticism.

Paul Staines

After winning 14% of the vote last night, Reform UK gained 4 MPs: Nigel Farage for Clacton, Richard Tice for Boston and Skegness, Lee Anderson for Ashfield and Rupert Lowe for Great Yarmouth. It’s an impressive number for a new party. Now the MPs are presenting their programme for Parliament…

LIVE: Reform MPs Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson & Rupert Lowe on the political earthquake. https://t.co/POvgorgplm

— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) July 5, 2024