UKLFI Director, Daniel Berke of 3D Solicitors, successfully defended a Cornish Councillor, Tim Dwelly, who was threatened with litigation after challenging comments made by a blogger.

Solicitors on behalf of Graham Smith and Ragged Trousers Production, who run a website called “Cornwall Reports”, wrote to Mr Dwelly in September 2020, accusing him of making seriously defamatory remarks about their client.

Mr Dwelly was an administrator of a Facebook page, Cornwall Antisemitism Watch, where some critical comments were published about Graham Smith and the Cornwall Reports website.

Amongst other things, Mr Smith had

• published an article entitled “Exclusive: how Israel attempts to influence Cornish MP”, and

• shared an article from ‘Mondoweiss’, entitled “The anti-Semitism of ‘kike’ and social exclusion has morphed into hazy ‘tropes’ about Israel”, which sought to define what Jews should and should not consider antisemitic.

Daniel Berke wrote to Mr Smith’s solicitors explaining that Mr Dwelly’s comments were substantially true and / or honest opinion. The normal one-year limitation period has now expired.