Unite and a blogger who is a supporter of the union’s leader, Len McCluskey, have lost a £1.3m battle over legal costs with a former Labour MP.
A judge ruled that the union, Labour’s most generous backer, and Stephen Walker must hand over the money after losing a libel case in 2019 brought by Anna Turley.
Lawyers told the judge that Unite and Walker had agreed to pay about £1.3m spent on the case by Turley, who lost her seat in Redcar, North Yorkshire, in the 2019 general election.
Judge Andrew Gordon-Saker considered issues relating to legal costs at an online hearing on Thursday, about 18 months after the libel case ended. He said Turley had won and was therefore entitled to have her costs paid by the losers.
Gordon-Saker, who heard submissions from lawyers representing both sides, was told that Turley had initially claimed about £2m in lawyers’ bills but subsequently agreed that Unite and Walker should pay about £1.3m.
A Unite spokesperson said after the hearing that the union and Walker would be jointly liable for the legal costs.
Turley said a 2017 article on Walker’s Skwawkbox blog, which contained a press statement from Unite, libelled her by conveying the meaning that she had acted dishonestly when submitting an application to join the union. She also said Unite had misused her private information.
Unite and Walker fought the case and said Turley had been dishonest and was not fit to be an MP. Mr Justice Nicklin ruled in Turley’s favour at the high court in December 2019.
He concluded that publication of the article caused “serious harm” to Turley’s reputation, and rejected allegations that Turley had been dishonest.
After the ruling, Turley said launching the action had given her no pleasure, but that she had no choice.
Unite is the UK’s second-biggest union and has played a prominent role in Labour leadership elections, helping Ed Miliband narrowly beat his brother, David, in 2010, and defending Jeremy Corbyn. It also funds MPs’ offices and controls seats on the party’s ruling national executive committee.
McCluskey is due to stand down as leader later this year, prompting an election between four candidates for control of the union.
The race to succeed McCluskey was launched last month and the new general secretary will be in place by September. The runner-up in a 2017 leadership race, Gerard Coyne, is standing against union officials Steve Turner, Howard Beckett and Sharon Graham.