Liz Truss uses Israeli-based lawyers to try to stop Starmer saying she crashed economy
Asserson Law is headquartered in central London but has its largest office in the Azrieli Center, in Tel Aviv's business district
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Liz Truss has hired a law firm whose largest office is in Tel Aviv to send a cease and desist letter to Keir Starmer asking him to stop saying she crashed the economy.
A letter sent to the prime minister by lawyers from Asserson accuses him of making “false and misleading” comments that Truss “crashed the economy” or was “crashing the economy”, which it claims are defamatory.
Asserson, founder by British lawyer Trevor Asserson, has its headquarters in London but its largest office is in the heart of Tel Aviv’s business district.
Based in the Azrieli Center, its staff work primarily in the English legal system, which is often used to settle international disputes.
“Of particular concern are the false and defamatory public statements you made about our client in the lead-up to the UK general election from late May 2024,” the letter sent to Starmer on behalf of the former prime minister claims.
Truss’s lawyers then claim that references to her having crashed the economy “were likely to materially impact public opinion” during the July 2024 general election, when she lost her Norfolk seat.
Asked to comment on the cease and desist letter, a Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer had no plans to moderate his language when discussing Truss’s economic record.
Founded in 2005, Asserson Law initially offered English legal services from its offshore location. But it has expanded from dispute regulation services to become a Legal 500-ranked, full-service law firm, offering dispute resolution, real estate, corporate, finance and commercial advice, under both English law and US law.
Trevor Asserson, who lives in Jerusalem with his family, is the firm’s senior partner and has a number of public interest claims on behalf of various causes – founding bbcwatch, which analyses BBC media coverage of the Middle East.
Last year he produced a report into the BBC’s reporting of the war in Gaza, and alleged the corporation was biased against Israel and had breached impartiality rules on multiple occasions.
The Asserson Report received praise from several communal organisations, although some questioned whether the author’s track record as an outspoken critic of the BBC in relation to Israel left him open to charges of bias himself.
But the author said he had used AI working alongside a team of Israeli data scientists to ensure the 199-page report adopted an impartial approach to its analysis.
The letter to Starmer refers to comments made in June 2024. It alleges that he made the claims at “a time when you knew or ought to have known that those statements were false; and the statements were likely to materially impact public opinion of our client whilst she was standing as the parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party in South West Norfolk”.
The letter argues that the market movement during Truss’s tenure in September and October 2022 should not be classified as a crash of the economy.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
