Mordaunt defends Donelan over £15,000 legal bill

Science Secretary Michelle Donelan was told to pay £15,000 for falsely suggesting an academic backed Hamas. Penny Mordaunt said she was confident the payment had been justified. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also defended the payout saying it was a long-standing convention that the government will fund disputes. He said if Labour were to get into power it would “never allow that sort of thing to happen… that would be history#34”;.

He said Labour would never allow a repeat of what happened in the 1980s. He added: ‘That would be the end of it. Ms Donelan received official legal advice when she drafted her original letter for which she was later sued for libel by the academic Professor Kate Sang. Leader of the House Ms Mordaunt said her colleague had not taken the money but instead handed it back to the department.

She said the payment to cover legal damages would have been scrutinised by civil servants. Prof Kate Sang, an academic at Heriot Watt University, launched a libel action against Ms Donelan. The minister accused her of expressing sympathy for Hamas following its 7 October attacks in Israel. Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government and others.

Prof Sang posted a link to a Guardian article on the response to the Hamas attacks in the UK. UKRI launched an investigation into Prof Sang, however it did not find any evidence she had expressed extremist views or support for Hamas. Prof Sang said she was disturbed by the way in which Michelle Donelan and UKRI behaved. The BBC had been told that the letter was.

written with officials and legal input and was cleared for publication by the. department at the highest levels. Instead, Michelle. Donelan made a cheap political point at my expense and caused serious damage to my.

reputation.

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