MEP wins ‘gravy train’ libel damages

UKIP leader accepts payout and apology from Times Newspapers

The publisher of The Sunday Times has apologised to MEP Nigel Farage for alleging that he was a ‘hypocrite’ for using EU funds to employ his son as an assistant while he was in fact still in full-time education.

The article, published in February 2008, stated that Mr Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, had criticised other MEPs for exploiting the EU ‘gravy train’ and likened him to Derek Conway MP who was suspended from the House of Commons after it was revealed he had illegitimately employed his son as a political researcher.

In a statement in open court today, Times Newspapers accepted that there was no foundation to the allegation that Mr Farage had used taxpayers’ money to pay his son, and therefore the comparison with Mr Conway and the charge of hypocrisy was “misconceived”. The newspaper has agreed to pay Mr Farage damages and costs.