Former Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP Sir Simon Hughes said that he hopes his payout by the publisher of the Sun newspaper will set a precedent and help others “to obtain justice”.
Liberal Democrat Sir Simon claims that he was the victim of “unlawful information gathering by various journalists and executives at the Sun” regarding his sexuality. He won “substantial” damages last week from News Group Newspapers (NGN), which publishes the Sun and used to put out the now-defunct News of the World.
The Sun ran a story in 2006 with the headline: ‘A second Limp-Dem confesses: I’m Gay Too.’ In the interview Sir Simon said he had had relationships with both men and women. His lawyer said that he felt that he had “no choice but to cooperate” with the newspaper at the time.
The News of the World closed down after the phone hacking scandal of 2011. NGN has always said that the illegal activity was confined to the Sunday newspaper, and did not take place at the Sun. Despite the payout, NGN has not admitted liability in this case.
Sir Simon, who lost his seat in parliament in 2015 after 32 years of service, told the News this week: “Following advice, I took legal action above all to make sure that those who work in the media act within the law, and that information belonging to any individual and which is personal, private and confidential cannot be unlawfully accessed, shared and used.
“This action was taken by me just as much to support others who have been targeted in similar ways, particularly if they have less experience of dealing with the media, as to establish my own rights. I very much hope that my action will help others who were the victims of similar unlawful practices also to obtain justice and will make it clear that such illegal practices cannot be carried on in the future.
“This action followed my discovery in 2017 that journalists working at The Sun newspaper had during my time as a Member of Parliament obtained private information through unlawful information gathering techniques, used with the knowledge and approval of Senior Executives at The Sun and following activity by private investigators which I believe was also unlawful.
“This was then followed by concealment by NGN representatives who denied their involvement in unlawful activities, and I believe deliberately destroyed relevant documents.
Sir Simon had already won a payout from NGN in 2012. At the time he called the phone hacking “criminal behaviour on an industrial scale”. He was among several people, including Steve Coogan, Alastair Campbell and Paul Gascoigne, who settled with the Rupert Murdoch-owned publisher.