Tory vice-chairman makes 'substantial' donation to charity over Corbyn 'communist spy' tweet
2 min read
A vice-chair of the Conservative Party has been forced to apologise and make a "substantial" donation to charity over a tweet in which he accused Jeremy Corbyn of selling secrets to Communist spies.
The cash will go to a homeless organisation and a foodbank in Ben Bradley's Mansfield constituency.
Mr Bradley posted the message amid claims - strenuously denied by Mr Corbyn - that he passed on information to a Czech 'diplomat' at the height of the Cold War 30 years ago.
The now-deleted tweet read: "Corbyn sold British secrets to communist spies ... get some perspective mate!! Your priorities are a bit awry."
Lawyers for Mr Corbyn sent a letter to the Mansfield MP - who is responsible for trying to help the Tories reconnect with young voters - demanding that he apologise and pay damages.
In a statement issued by the Labour press office, Mr Bradley admitting the "defamatory" tweet had "caused distress and upset" to the Labour leader.
He said: "On 19 February 2018 I made a seriously defamatory statement on my Twitter account, ‘Ben Bradley MP (@bbradleymp)’, about Jeremy Corbyn, alleging he sold British secrets to communist spies. I have since deleted the defamatory tweet. I have agreed to pay an undisclosed substantial sum of money to a charity of his choice, and I will also pay his legal costs.
"I fully accept that my statement was wholly untrue and false. I accept that I caused distress and upset to Jeremy Corbyn by my untrue and false allegations, suggesting he had betrayed his country by collaborating with foreign spies.
"I am very sorry for publishing this untrue and false statement and I have no hesitation in offering my unreserved and unconditional apology to Jeremy Corbyn for the distress I have caused him.”"
A spokesperson for Mr Corbyn said: "We are pleased Ben Bradley has admitted what he said was entirely untrue and apologised, and that charities in Mansfield will benefit.
"Following the botched smear campaign against Jeremy, this case shows we are not going to let dangerous lies go unchallenged."
It is not the first time Mr Bradley, who was only elected last June, has landed in hot water since his promotion in Theresa May's last reshuffle.
He was condemned last month after comments he made in a 2012 blogpost emerged in which he suggested unemployed men should have vasectomies.
The blogpost - which Mr Bradley deleted after they were revealed by Buzzfeed - was written in support of the Government's cap on benefits payments.
He said: "I apologise for these posts. My time in politics has allowed me to mature and I now realise that this language is not appropriate."
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