Rachel Riley to sue Labour complaints chief Laura Murray for £50,000 over tweets

Rachel Riley is moving to pursue legal action against Labour’s complaints chief Laura Murray and seek £50,000 in damages over tweets, according a report.

The Countdown star, 33, is set to sue Murray for libel after the pair exchanged heated tweets earlier this year, The Times reported.

Riley alleges that she suffered “substantial anxiety, humiliation, upset and distress” and that her reputation was “seriously damaged” by recent tweets.

Riley, who emerged as a leading activist in the fight against antisemitism, took to social media when Jeremy Corbyn was egged during a visit to a mosque in March.

Retweeting a post that said “If you don’t want eggs thrown at you, don’t be a Nazi. Seems fair to me,” she commented: “Sound advice.”

But the tweet prompted Murray to call Riley as “dangerous as she is stupid” and urge her followers not to “engage with her. Ever”.

Riley has since claimed the tweet merely sought to express her view that some on the left appear concerned by racism only when it occurs on the far-right.

Meanwhile, Murray appeared to read the tweet as an endorsement of the egg-attack  – an interpretation which Riley disputes.

In a statement, her lawyer Mark Lewis added: “It would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing libel action, Rachel has issued proceedings in order to get proper vindication in respect of a deliberately damaging tweet”.