Michelle Donelan has apologised for “any distraction” her posting of a defamatory letter on X which saw £15,000 of taxpayer money paid out to settle a libel case has caused.
The science and technology secretary said she was sorry for not privately raising concerns over alleged views posted on social media by two academics – which saw her demand “swift action” over their roles on a diversity panel – by writing to UK Research & Innovation (UKRI).
Speaking to the House of Lords science and technology committee, Donelan said: “While I always err on the side of transparency, I am now clear in this case I could have sent the letter in confidence to the UKRI in order for them to undertake the investigations privately.
“And I do apologise for not having done so, and for any distraction that this decision has caused from this government’s positive agenda.”
She later added: “I do apologise for tweeting this letter publicly and have formally retracted my concerns as well.”
Donelan posted on X in October that she had written to UKRI to warn the alleged views of Professor Kate Sang and Dr Kamna Patel breached the Nolan principles, expressed “disgust and outrage” and claimed the academics had “shared extremist views”.
The letter followed a tweet by Prof Sang saying “This is disturbing”, and containing a link to an article by the Guardian describing the response to the Hamas attacks in the UK, while Dr Patel had retweeted a post describing Israeli actions as “genocide and apartheid”.
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‘It’s not uncommon’: Minister defends £15,000 taxpayer payout to settle Donelan libel claim
Prof Sang launched a libel action against Donelan, who has since accepted that Sang’s comments referred to the story as a whole, and not just the headline.
A sum of £15,000 of taxpayer money has been used to cover the damages.
Donelan told peers her actions were “never motivated by any political desire” and were due to “concern as to whether proper process and due diligence had been followed”.
Questioned as to why she published it on social media and whether civil servants were aware, she said: “I highlighted it on the platform the original tweet was done on and that is something I have apologised for and said with hindsight I could have just sent it privately.
“If I had the ability to do it again, I would certainly just send it privately, I’ve said that as well as retracting the original comments.”
She added: “There is longstanding precedent that we don’t get into the nature of advice but I can tell you that both policy and legal were not only cited but cleared the approach taken.”
While permanent secretary at the Department for Science and Technology (DSIT), Sarah Munby, added: “Civil servants were involved.”
Pressed again as to whether officials were aware she was planning to make the letter public on social media, Donelan confirmed: “Yes, the answer is yes.”
She said DSIT would carry out an “internal review… to ensure we’ve learned the lessons of this and don’t ever repeat those” and that no “surveillance” of academics took place.
Donelan also apologised last week and posted on X that she was “pleased to be able to withdraw my original concerns”.
The researchers were initially suspended by UKRI but an investigation has since found neither of them had breached the Nolan principles or the terms of their roles.
Sang said she was “disturbed” by how Donelan and UKRI behaved, and added that the minister “made a cheap political point at my expense and caused serious damage to my reputation”. She said she would “donate part of the damages she has paid to a charity”.
A DSIT spokesperson previously insisted there was “established precedent” for legal support for ministers and that Donelan “received the appropriate advice from relevant officials”.
They also previously described the £15,000 sum as “nominal” and said the “approach is intended to reduce the overall costs to the taxpayer that could result from legal action”.