Minister uses taxpayer money to pay off academic she falsely accused | LBC

With MP Michelle Donelan facing calls to resign for using taxpayer money in her libel case, James O’Brien speaks to Politics Reporter for the i newspaper Poppy Wood, who led the story.

Poppy Wood tells James O’Brien: 'It's a really extraordinary turn of events with what started out as a serving minister reporting to uphold academic freedom, actually ended in a libel suit that the taxpayer has paid on her behalf.'

'The tories want this to die down, but the question hangs other whether Ms Michelle Donelan can really stay in post.'

This comes as Ms Donelan retracted her comments about Professor Kate Sang supporting Hamas and agreed to pay her an undisclosed amount. She said there was "no evidence" that the academic was a Hamas supporter.

Reflecting on the interview, James O’Brien says: 'If you were to check their CVs you'd wonder how on earth people from that milieu ended up populating Liz Truss' entire government.'

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