Yesterday morning in High Court 13 saw the first round in the legal battle between Dale Vince and Guido. On Friday Lord (Shaun) Bailey made his case for summary dismissal of Dale Vince’s claims. Which is a different approach to the one we are taking. Richard Tice’s barrister also made his preliminary case in Court 13 in the afternoon. All three hearings were in front of Mr Justice Pepperall.
This Court round was a trial of preliminary issues, to determine meaning and to establish what it is exactly that a full trial will be arguing about. This is designed to save time and money before a full blown trial. Even so at one point Guido counted 13 lawyers in the court room.
The arguments were technical, the meanings were contested, the issue as to whether the various statements by defendants were opinions is a key question. Much citing of legal precedents and authorities occurred. The judge was inscrutuable, taking copious notes and will deliver his ruling in weeks.
We are incredibly grateful to the 2,800 co-conspirators who have so far donated £89,711 to crowdfund this case. We could not have made our case as strongly without you – libel cases like this require specialist representation which is not cheap. More than anything, beyond the funds raised, it demonstrates that thousands of people want to Just Stop Dale…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”