A pro-life charity has won a payout from a London council after being kicked out of a country show.
Life said their human rights were infringed when they were evicted from the Lambeth Country Show last summer.
The anti-abortion group staged a stall at the fair which included plastic replicas of unborn babies at various stages of development.
But the next day, after receiving complaints from people who went to the event, council officials told the charity it was not allowed to exhibit.
Ed Davie, Lambeth’s cabinet member for health, tweeted the stall “was not on the approved list” and “was not officially allowed.”
He and Lambeth Council later said the stall was booked using “inaccurate information”.
Both claims were rejected by Life, who said it was “publicly defamed” by Cllr Davie and the statements were “untrue”.
Lambeth will pay £5,000 in damages and tweet an apology after the charity launched legal action against the council.
Life’s head of advocacy Liz Parsons said: “Lambeth’s agreement to settle this matter through a payment of damages is a victory for common sense and freedom of expression.
“The stall at Lambeth sought to educate people about the unborn baby and advertise our care services for pregnant women, including those who are homeless or in need of emotional and practical support. We must, and will challenge any organisation which tries in any way to impede this important work.”
A council spokesman said: “Lambeth Council and Life reached a settlement in relation to threatened claims arising from the removal of Life’s stall from the 2018 Lambeth Country Show.
“Lambeth agreed to pay Life £5,000 in damages, publish an apology on Twitter and has undertaken not to publish, or cause to be published, the same or similar words to those originally tweeted by the council on July 22, 2018.”
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