Starmer urged to tighten law on Slapps following Mandelson scandal
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to tighten the law to prevent the powerful and wealthy from stopping stories about them, following the Lord Mandelson scandal.
A dozen Labour MPs have written to the Prime Minister to ensure that strategic lawsuits against public participation, known as Slapps, is included in the King’s Speech in May.
Slapps refers to defamation cases and legal threats generally brought against journalists and campaigners as a form of intimidation by wealthy individuals.
When Labour took office, the party had backed a Bill that would have cracked down on Slapps, which went through two readings and a committee stage before it was shelved.
Sarah Sackman, the justice minister, who has drafted plans to tighten legislation as part of a civil justice and courts bill, has sent a memo to the attorney-general urging action on the Slapps case.
Calls for action after Bill was shelved
Sackman’s letter comes as she argues that the Lord Mandelson scandal showed a need to act on “powerful men and their money”.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as Britain’s ambassador to the US in September after revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office; he denies all wrongdoing.
According to The Times, 54 Labour MPs including Andy Slaughter, who chairs the justice select committee, and Anneliese Dodds, the former international development minister, have signed a letter urging Starmer to legislate universal anti-Slapp measures in the next King’s Speech.
The letter stated: “This is a key part of the package we believe will help improve trust in politics, the media and the judicial system — taking a vital step towards levelling the playing field for victims.”
The letter urges Starmer to expand the definition, arguing that “anyone who speaks out, whether in a newspaper, blog, Facebook group, Facebook [X] thread or in an email” could find themselves the recipient of a Slapp.
The MPs ask for anti-Slapp legislation to be included “either as part of an appropriate wider bill, or as a standalone piece of legislation”.
A government spokesperson told The Times it would “set out its future legislative programme in the usual way through the King’s Speech”.