Lord McAlpine has called on those who spread false allegations of his involvement in child sex abuse via Twitter to each make a donation to a children's charity to avoid further litigation.
His solicitor, Andrew Reid of RMPI, told the Telegraph that 1,000 original tweets and 9,000 retweets have been found to unjustly discredit Lord McAlpine, as a result of a report by the BBC's Newsnight programme which implicated the former Conservative Party treasurer in child abuse.
Lord McAlpine signed a settlement of £185,000 plus costs with the BBC last week and is taking action against all parties involved in discrediting him.
Reid told Channel 4 News yesterday that tweeters will be expected to make a donation but that celebrity tweeters, who have large numbers of followers, may still face claims for damages. The donation sum is reported to be £5 per person, but no specific charity has yet been named.
ITV is also to hear from Lord McAlpine's solicitors and could be forced to settle for an even greater sum of money after This Morning's Philip Schofield passed the Prime Minister a document containing the names those alleged on the internet of being a paedophile, which included Lord McAlpine's name, live on air.
This morning on Twitter a message reading: "I've just written to Lord McAlpine to apologise for re-tweeting his name in relation to false allegations following a BBC investigation" has been retweeted 130 times, including by funnyman Alan Davies.
However the legacy of damage to Lord McAlpine's reputation is clear, with some Twitter users perpetuating allegations by introducing new tweets accusing Lord McAlpine of abuse.
Update 21 November 2012
Reid released a statement advising:
"The fixed donation amount is yet to be assessed. However, this will be to Lord McAlpine's charity of choice, BBC Children In Need, and will be in addition to an administration fee.
"Given the large amount of information that continues to be disseminated, the band for which the charity payment will be settled shall be when Lord McAlpine has a full understanding of this material.
"The donation is intended for tweeters with fewer than 500 followers, but those with larger numbers of followers are still encouraged to identify themselves and offer their formal apologies at this stage."
