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MP plotting changes to libel laws Sir Edward Garnier earns thousands as a libel lawyer
A senior Conservative MP, who opposes plans to prevent firms from suing unless they have
suffered significant financial losses, earns thousands of pounds as a defamation barrister
on top of his parliamentary salary.
Sir Edward Garnier, who was a minister until September, said last week that he was seeking
to amend the Defamation Bill to scrap a clause that would have made it harder for companies
to sue. At the same time, the MP for Harborough declares on the Commons register of interests
that, since stepping down as a minister, he has received £37,000 from legal work as a senior QC
- including from defamation cases. He is currently representing Lord McAlpine in his defamation
case against Sally Bercow, the wife of the Commons Speaker.
While Sir Edward, 60, has acted within parliamentary rules and declared his financial interest
as a libel lawyer, it has led some to question that the outside earnings of MPs could potentially
compromise their views inside Parliament...................