Lambeth council has agreed to pay the anti-abortion charity Life £5,000 in damages and apologise on Twitter to settle claims following the removal of the charity’s stall from last year’s Lambeth Country Show.
The council has also agreed not to repeat statements about Life that it tweeted on 22 July last year.
Life said it was “publicly defamed when Lambeth councillor Ed Davie erroneously claimed on Twitter that Life had attended the show without permission, as he vowed to ensure we were not there on the second day.”
The charity went on to say that Ed Davie and Lambeth council itself later tweeted that it had used inaccurate information to make the booking.
“All these statements were untrue,” said the charity. “Life had provided accurate and detailed information about its organisation, and its exhibits on the stall when it was booked several months before the show. Its presence had been fully approved.
“These false claims by Lambeth, which were repeated in the London and national press, could have caused serious harm to Life’s reputation and undermined the charity’s wide-ranging work.”
Life’s Head of advocacy, Liz Parsons, said its stall at the show had “sought to educate people about the unborn baby and advertise our care services for pregnant women, including those who are homeless or in need of emotional and practical support.
“We must, and will challenge any organisation which tries in any way to impede this important work.”
