Paddy French is crowdfunding
Weʼre raising £100,000 to defend a libel action brought by BBC Panorama reporter John Ware
- London
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THE BBC reporter John Ware has issued a claim for libel against Press Gang editor Paddy French.
Ware seeks £50,000 in damages over a Press Gang pamphlet criticising the Panorama anti-Semitism programme in July 2019.
Press Gang is contesting the action.
On July 22 Labour settled a libel action brought by Ware.
Labour apologised in open court and agreed to pay damages.
The action does not affect Ware v French which is a different case about a different publication
Ware v French will now go to court for the first stage this autumn.
This appeal is to help pay the substantial costs of instructing solicitors and counsel to fight the proceedings.
Ware's action concerns the Press Gang pamphlet “Is The BBC Anti-Labour? — Panorama's Biased Anti-Semitism Reporting: A Case To Answer” published last December.
This was a critical analysis of last year's Panorama programme "Is Labour Anti-Semitic?"
The Press Gang pamphlet weighed up the evidence and took a critical view of the programme.
Press Gang has instructed the London solicitors Bindmans.
We hope you’ll be able to support this appeal.
We’ll keep you updated on this site — but you can also follow events on the website, press-gang.org — and on Twitter (@pguk10).
Many thanks.
Paddy French
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Updates
7
- 1 month ago
Paddy French
1 month agoThe preliminary hearing in Ware v French has been set for Thursday, 18 February 2021. This will be a half day session after which the judge will decide if the case should go to full trial.
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- 1 month ago
Paddy French
1 month agoThe preliminary hearing in Ware v French has been set for Thursday, 18 February 2021. This will be a half day session after which the judge will decide if the case should go to full trial.
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- 2 months ago
Paddy French
2 months agoUPDATE I’m writing to let you know the current state of play in Ware v French. The expected preliminary hearing in the case has been delayed by a late change in the claim made by John Ware. Instead of complaining that the entire Press Gang pamphlet "Is The BBC Anti-Labour?” was defamatory, he now restricts his claim to the article “Political storm rages over BBC’s ‘rogue’ journalism”. The preliminary hearing has now been pushed back to early next year. I'll let you know when we have it. Once again, many thanks for your support!
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Paddy French started crowdfunding
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Supporters
931
Angela Edmunds
Jan 17, 2021
We are pensioners, but will always support injustice. We have donated as much as we can, but please send out regular reminders and we will donate more. Solidarity.
£10.00
Canute
Jan 11, 2021
John Ware is trying so suppress free speech with his fat wallet. Solidarity with Paddy!
Anonymous
Jan 5, 2021
Keep going
£35.00
George Owen
Dec 27, 2020
Keep on keeping on Paddy and Happy New Year.
£50.00
Ed Hulme
Dec 23, 2020
I hope that you successfully defend yourself against this propagandist who has seriously damaged the standard of political reporting with his partiality.
£25.00
Anonymous
Dec 22, 2020
John Ware's "Panorama" programme was a disgrace. Shame on the BBC for broadcasting it.
£500.00
Anonymous
Dec 20, 2020
£5.00
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About the fundraiser
Paddy French
London
Paddy French, 71, is a journalist with four decades experience of investigative reporting. After ten years as a current affairs producer with ITV, he retired to edit the Press Gang website — press-gang.org — to expose rogue journalists like Andrew Norfolk of the Times.