Tomorrow's Business Today
Vardy vs Rooney: A Frivolours Court Case With Serious Implications
The Wagatha Christie trial is a tale for the age.
Did Rebekah Vardy leak false stories about Coleen Rooney to The Sun? Was she caught doing so in a cunning trap set by Wayne’s sleuthing missus?
Did Vardy call Rooney “a nasty bitch” on WhatsApp? Will she win this heroic battle to clear her good name?
Which of the women has the nicer hair?(It’s close, but going to give this one to Vardy).
You can find all this funny, or you can despair.
The serious point is that the case is a stark reminder of how the libel laws are stacked against free speech in this country compared with, say, the US.
Vardy sued for libel. But the onus is on Rooney to prove that Vardy actually leaked all this stuff herself. She didn’t quite allege as much, but the judge has decided that was what she meant in a social media post.
Her defence case is then made even more difficult by the potential evidence being, ahem, most unfortunately fell into the North Sea.
So much of the evidence that might help Rooney is with the plaintiff or her aides. A series of unfortunate incidents (not just an aide dropping a phone in the sea) has meant none of that is available to her.
The facts of the case are totally trivial. What the case illustrates about our libel laws is not.
Press release of the day
Is the Help to Buy scheme running out of steam? This from twindig suggest it is.
The latest data “will not make pleasant reading for a Government keen to turn generation rent into generation buy”.
Fractional ownership is the way forward, it suggests.
The release is pleasingly short, to the point.
Stories that will keep rolling
1) Will BT’s 50-50 joint venture with Discovery work? How are relations with biggest shareholder Patrick Drahi?
2) Do the q1 GDP figures suggest a recession is on the cards, or avoidable?
3) How are Hargreaves clients reacting to recent market turmoil? Getting out, or buying?
4) Can Superdry ever return to former glories?
