Lord McAlpine launches Twitter actions
Lawyers working for Lord McAlpine have pledged to end "trial by Twitter", announcing a series of unprecedented libel actions against those who used the site to link the Tory peer to child abuse allegations.
As the BBC agreed to pay Lord McAlpine £185,000 plus costs over its Newsnight report, it emerged that Sally Bercow, the wife of the Speaker of the Commons, would be the first person to receive a letter from lawyers over her reference to the allegations on Twitter.
Solicitor Andrew Reid warned people must learn to "take responsibility" for comments made on the site.
It comes as Lord Patten blocks an investigation by the National Audit Office into the £450,000 settlement handed outgoing director general George Entwistle.
The BBC Trust chairman has written to the Auditor General, Amyas Morse, refusing the request to conduct a rapid audit of the decision.