‘Phone-hacking heir apparent’ who wrote string of libels against left figures accused by investor of involvement in hacking scandal and trying to profit further from it
Anti-Corbyn hack Lee Harpin – responsible for a string of libels against left-wingers as well as playing a major role in the barrage against Corbyn during the ‘Labour antisemitism’ smear campaign – has been accused in court of key involvement in the phone-hacking scandal at the Mirror newspaper group and then ‘blackmailing’ his former employers with a threat to reveal all if they did not protect him.
Investor Brian Basham has told a High Court hearing that Harpin, “the phone-hacking ‘dauphin’, or heir apparent”,
was blackmailing the company to prevent them from penalising him for his phone-hacking activities by threatening to blow the whistle on everything he knew about their phone-hacking problem if they did.
In response to the accusations, Harpin said:
I categorically deny the allegations. No one has contacted me from either side to give evidence so I have not been given a chance to respond to these outrageous allegations.
The Mirror Group, at the time, was still denying publicly that its staff had engaged in phone hacking, after the scandal brought down the News of the World, but has since paid out more than £100 million in legal settlements and fees to victims.
Harpin moved on to the Jewish Chronicle, penning a string of attacks on left-wingers during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party cost that right-wing publication repeated, ‘substantial’ libel pay-outs and adverse judgments by regulator IPSO. His smears included a notorious ‘litany of lies’ about Liverpool legend Audrey White and antisemitism smears against Nada Al-Sanjari that the paper subsequently admitted were ‘completely unfounded’. He now works for Jewish News.
A Harpin attack on Skwawkbox also recently backfired when his tweet mocking this site led to donations from supporters happy to give ‘one in the eye’ to the right-wing hack.
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Off subject, do you agree with The New Statesman’s list?
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/05/the-new-statesmans-left-power-list
“The New Statesman’s left power list
The 50 most influential people shaping Britain’s progressive politics.
246
I only counted 5 Left wingers
Have you heard of the Trades Descriptions Act
See you in court
Corbyn’s entry is, if true, intriguing.🤔
29 Jeremy Corbyn – Former Labour leader
Until the 2019 general election, Corbyn would have been close to the top of this list. But Labour’s worst result since 1935 left the Islington North MP derided as electorally toxic. Corbyn’s influence was further reduced when he lost the party whip after declaring that the scale of anti-Semitism in Labour was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
But the 73-year-old continues to have wide influence and command support. His allies have confirmed that he intends to stand as an independent in his constituency at the next election – guaranteeing media exposure. Should he win, he and his fellow Socialist Campaign Group MPs could yet wield significant influence in a hung parliament. Corbyn’s four-year tenure as Labour leader shifted the terms of political debate leftwards and gave greater prominence to a new generation of radical commentators and campaigners.
Nice attempt at deflection Steve h – have you nothing to say about the issue?
No, have you?
Didn’t think so.
Smartboy – see below at 10:33pm
https://skwawkbox.org/2023/05/17/anti-corbyn-hack-harpin-blackmailed-mirror-over-phone-hacking-court-hears/#comment-244282
What’s the bastard point of clicking on that link?
It no doubt places keef at the top of the list – despite “celebrities” doing more to oppose the government than keef ever has – closely followed by his toadies, and the likes of mandelslime & bliar.
You are wrong about Keir’s position in their pecking order and Marcus is at 42.
Unfortunately at about 9,000 words the article is too long to cut and paste but if you register then you’ll be able to read the article for free.
Smartboy – It was very perceptive of you to spot that neither of us has anything to contribute to the above article. Self evidently (to date) it is also something that we both have in common with the rest of the commentators on this page
Who would have guessed? The hatchet pieces in the media were not written by nice guys.