From the Guardian · · 2m
Reform donor funded academic in bullying case
Ben Delo loaned £350,000 to Nina Power as she fought a defamation case where a judge found evidence of harassment with antisemitic undertones.
In brief
Ben Delo loaned £350,000 to Nina Power as she fought a defamation case where a judge found evidence of harassment with antisemitic undertones. A major Reform UK donor provided substantial financial backing to a conservative academic involved in a high-profile free speech dispute, despite a court finding her conduct…
Reform donor backs bullying case
Ben Delo, a major Reform UK supporter, loaned £350,000 to conservative academic Nina Power to fund her legal battle against performance artist Luke Turner.
The legal battle begins
Power and writer Daniel DC Miller sued Turner for defamation after he accused them of antisemitism. Turner countersued for harassment. Their libel action failed because Turner's online reach was deemed too small to cause reputational harm.
Judge finds problematic conduct
While ruling there was no overt antisemitism, the judge described Miller and Power's social media posts as having a 'whiff of threat and antisemitism' they created themselves.
“the whiff of threat and antisemitism which they themselves can fairly be held to have created”
Harassment case also fails
Turner's harassment claim against Power and Miller was dismissed because the judge ruled their conduct was 'too occasional, intangible, diffuse and unconsolidated' to be unlawful.
Power faces bankruptcy
Turner won £1 million in costs, amounting to 80 percent of the total legal fees. Power was declared bankrupt, and Delo's £350,000 loan emerged during bankruptcy proceedings.
Loan details emerge
Delo made the commercial loan weeks before trial when Power's fee arrangement with lawyers collapsed. It was secured against her London property with a repayment schedule.
Power's political evolution
Power is a former leftwing academic who wrote for the Guardian about feminism. She later described becoming 'conservative in the true sense' and authored a book arguing men have been demonised.
Troubling WhatsApp exchanges
Court documents revealed Power and Miller dismissed anti-racism as a 'psyop' and discussed reading Mein Kampf. Power wrote that 'black and white were alien races and very different.'
“The social disapproval for 'racism' is a psyop to stop people realising that there *are* alien and fairy races”
Miller's far-right connections
Miller is closely associated with IM-1776 magazine, which publishes hard-right views including pieces celebrating the Unabomber and proto-fascist Italian nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Delo's free speech backing
Delo is known to support the Free Speech Union run by Conservative peer Toby Young and has funded organisations known for anti-woke causes.
What to remember
A major Reform UK donor provided substantial financial backing to a conservative academic involved in a high-profile free speech dispute, despite a court finding her conduct included problematic antisemitic references.
