Nottingham City Council spent more than £10,000 in legal fees and paid out £500 in compensation after it unlawfully cancelled a talk by activist Julie Bindel at one of its libraries. Ms Bindel, a feminist campaigner and author, was informed by the Labour-run council her talk at Aspley Library was cancelled due to her views on transgender rights one day before it was due to take place on June 25.
Represented by Didlaw, London-based employment lawyers, she then took legal action against the authority, having raised just under £40,000 through a Crowdjustice campaign. The campaign sought to raise money from her followers to pay for her legal team, which drafted a letter to the council saying she would be taking legal action under both the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.
After three months of pre-action correspondence the parties reached agreement on mutually acceptable terms, including an apology. In October, the city council apologised to Ms Bindel and admitted it had acted “unlawfully” in cancelling her talk, which had been organised by Nottingham Women for Change, which describes itself as a “women only activism, education and empowerment” group.
