After the Panorama, Is Labour Antisemitic?, aired in July 2019, Labour claimed the whistle-blowers, who had all worked for the party, were “disaffected former officials include those who have always opposed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, worked to actively to undermine it and have both personal and political axes to grind.”
The case, which was brought by the lawyer Mark Lewis, is believed to be the first time a political party has been sued for libel.
Pro-Corbyn supporters have lined up try to discredit the Panorama – with broadcast regulator, Ofcom, rejecting 28 complaints against the programme.
Another article on the Novara Media website in May was headlined: ‘Did BBC Whistle-blowers Mislead the Public on Labour Antisemitism and Blame Their Own Failures on Corbyn?’
On Monday the JC revealed an attempt by Justin Schlosberg - a senior lecturer in journalism and media at Birkbeck College - to mount a formal legal challenge to Ofcom's decision not to investigate complaints about the BBC Panorama rejected by the High Court on the grounds that it came nowhere near reaching the high threshold for such a challenge.
