McAlpine lets Twitter users off the hook

The Tory peer, who has already received six-figure payouts from the BBC and ITV, said he wanted to draw the “unfortunate episode” to a close.

He has now written to Twitter users with fewer than 500 followers, asking them to make a voluntary donation of £25 to the BBC’s Children in Need.

Lord McAlpine was mistakenly implicated by Newsnight as being a member of a paedophile ring that targeted children at a care home in Wrexham. His name was then widely mentioned on Twitter.

He is still pursuing Sally Bercow, wife of Commons Speaker John Bercow, over comments she made on the microblogging site.