Former Labour MP sues Sunday Telegraph over expenses story

The Press Gazette reports:

Former Labour backbench MP Frank Cook has filed a libel writ against the Sunday Telegraph over a front-page story from May 2009 about his expenses.

He is demanding damages of up to £50,000 from publishers Telegraph Media Group over a front page story and two inside pieces in May 2009 in the Sunday Telegraph.

The stories, which he claims were defamatory, were headed “MP claimed £5 for church collection” and “I’m sorry church claim was unfair.”

Cook, who represents Stockton North, is also suing over a comment headed: “Now it is the people’s turn to be heard.”

He says the articles meant he represented low “value-for-money” as a parliamentarian, and that his £5 claim, which was refused, was an extraordinary abuse of MPs expenses, and was particularly embarrassing and hypocritical because of his support for the campaign to commemorate a Battle of Britain hero …

He says the allegations were given “disproportionate and excessive prominence” in the newspaper and online, and that by mentioning his former job as a gravedigger, the paper hoped to ridicule him.

When speaking to a reporter, he had denied he did not represent value-for-money, but says the paper failed to report that he was ineligible to vote on bills he had chaired, which gave a false impression of his voting record.