John Bercow by Sebastian Whale

Author:Sebastian Whale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: 2020-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sally had become a prolific user of Twitter, the social media site whose usage had skyrocketed. She was forced to apologise after incorrectly suggesting that Carpetright was going under, prompting the company’s chairman to threaten legal action. Commenting on the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations, Sally said she was underwhelmed by the flotilla and despaired at ‘mindless, flag-waving loons’. In March 2012, she sparked outrage after tweeting that she was ‘slightly tempted to try mexxy’ (methoxetamine), an alternative to ketamine that the Home Office had announced would be banned as part of a crackdown on legal highs. Labour MP John Mann branded the comments ‘highly irresponsible and inappropriate’.

The most egregious tweet came in November 2012. A BBC Newsnight investigation had accused a senior Tory politician of allegedly abusing young boys at a Welsh care home. When Thatcher ally Lord McAlpine’s name started being mentioned on Twitter, Sally tweeted: ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*’. She tweeted an apology soon after.

Lord McAlpine sued successfully several individuals and Newsnight for defamatory remarks. On the case against Sally, the High Court ruled in his favour on 24 May 2013. Justice Tugendhat said a ‘reasonable reader’ would understand the words ‘innocent face’ as being ‘insincere and ironical’. ‘The reader would reasonably infer that Mrs Bercow had provided “the last piece in the jigsaw”,’ he said. Sally, who apologised to Lord McAlpine, said in a statement: ‘Today’s ruling should be seen as a warning to all social media users. Things can be held to be seriously defamatory, even when you do not intend them to be defamatory and do not make any express accusation. On this, I have learned my own lesson the hard way.’25

A source on McAlpine’s legal team says: ‘Sally lacked any sense of judgement or appreciation of what was right and what was wrong in relation to Lord McAlpine.’ In October 2013, Sally agreed to pay £15,000 in damages.

In May 2013, around the time of the High Court judgment, Sally set up a new Twitter account, though it has been inactive since September 2018. Journalists have sniffed around a couple of ‘burner’ Twitter profiles that sources have suspected have been linked to Sally, though none have been proven.

On 7 February 2020, an Amazon review by a user called ‘Elizabeth Baxter’ gave John Bercow’s autobiography, Unspeakable, five stars. ‘I’ve just finished this and hugely enjoyed it. Fascinating account of John Bercow’s background and early life in particular,’ the reviewer wrote. ‘As Speaker, he was clearly controversial but he comes across as a genuine reformer who faced much hostility from “the establishment”. I will buy a copy as a gift for my parents too as they are big fans.’ A review by ‘Elizabeth Baxter’ of the novel Capital by John Lanchester, dated 12 October 2013, was signed off ‘Sally Bercow x’. It also included the hashtag ‘#hiDaily MailIamagoodpersonactually’, after revealing that the owner purchased books legally as opposed to downloading them for free. A day before the review by Elizabeth Baxter, a ‘Simon Baxter’ also gave the book five stars.

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