07.03.2013

Appeal from the editor

Peter Manson gives an update

After a couple of weeks of receiving a few, but very large, donations to our legal fund, a good number of smaller contributions have started to come in. Three comrades (JB, PB and LW) donated £30 and two (JA and RL) £20. TB and JR gave us £10 each, while AS and AH came up with £5.

The total of £160 this week takes us over £2,000 - to £2,130, to be precise. The bad news is, we still do not know the final size of the out-of-court settlement reached following the publication of an article a year ago (see ‘Unreserved apology’, February 7). But it is expected to be a substantial sum, so it is essential that everyone who can helps us reach the final figure.

The Weekly Worker never knowingly publishes falsehoods, and in the event of inaccuracies our open letters pages are available - in particular to activists involved in the working class movement - for immediate rebuttal and/or retraction. However, in this case we were obliged to pay £1,000 in damages plus costs.

Please send your contributions, marked ‘Legal appeal’, to Weekly Worker, BCM Box 928, London WC1N 3XX. Alternatively, transfer your donation directly to our account (sort code: 30-99-64; account: 00744310) or via our website using PayPal. Please ensure you inform us of the purpose of the transfer.

Comrades wanting to approach, for example, their union branch for donations can now download our appeal, together with a draft motion calling for support, from our website: 

www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/online-only/weekly-worker-legal-appeal-template-letter-and-motion