Laurence Fox in libel battle over Twitter row

Laurence Fox has been described as "an intelligent racist with an agenda" on the opening day of a libel trial with two people he called paedophiles.

The actor-turned-politician is being sued by ex-Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over an online row in October 2020.

Mr Fox called Mr Blake and the ex-contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race - real name Colin Seymour - "paedophiles".

He denies being a racist and claims he lost his acting agent over the row.

The dispute followed a decision by Sainsbury's to celebrate Black History Month and provide a safe space for black employees.

After Mr Fox called for a boycott of the supermarket, he was described as "a racist" by Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, and by actress Nicola Thorp, in their own posts on Twitter, now known as X.

Mr Fox is counter-suing these three people over their tweets, claiming they damaged his reputation.

Lorna Skinner KC, representing Mr Blake, Mr Seymour and Ms Thorp, said the three "honestly believed, and continue honestly to believe, that Mr Fox is a racist".

In written submissions, the barrister said the 45-year-old "has made a number of highly controversial statements about race".

She added: "If and to the extent that Mr Fox has been harmed in his reputation, it is his own conduct and not the claimants' comments on it that caused that harm."

Ms Skinner highlighted several of Mr Fox's social media posts, including a June 2022 tweet of four pride flags arranged in the shape of a swastika.

"Such a disgusting post could only be made by a complete ignoramus or an intelligent racist with an agenda. Mr Fox is the latter," she said.

Patrick Green KC, for Mr Fox, said in his written submissions that neither Mr Blake or Mr Seymour "has suffered any actual, real-world consequences" due to the actor's tweets.

Instead, Mr Green said readers would have understood that Mr Fox's posts were a "retort to an allegation of racism" rather than a factual allegation.

He said it was accepted that abuse had been sent to Mr Blake and Mr Seymour on the X platform, but that it had been from "trolls, a well-recognised species of Twitter user who have, at best, a ribald sense of humour and, at worst, deep personality disorders".

However, Mr Green said there was "little doubt that Mr Fox's reputation has actually suffered very considerably" since October 2020, particularly in the mind of his former agent.

He continued: "The allegation of being 'a racist' will have been looked upon very seriously by many of Mr Fox's actual and potential colleagues... He is not a racist, he is a colour-blind liberal who dislikes racism, 'progressive' and identitarian politics."

The trial before Mrs Justice Collins Rice continues and is due to conclude next week with a decision expected at a later date.