Gagging order ‘may have led to Giggs headlines

Ryan Giggs’s relationship with reality TV contestant Imogen Thomas may not have made the headlines if he had not taken out a gagging order to protect his privacy, the model’s publicist has said.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th May 2011, 07:00 BST

Max Clifford said the Big Brother contestant had not intended to sell her story and, without the injunction, “probably, we wouldn’t know what had been going on”.

His comments came after Parliament and the judiciary were put on a collision course by Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming who used parliamentary privilege to name Giggs as the married star at the centre of the row.

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Mr Hemming’s actions meant the Premier League footballer was named, despite judges at the High Court in London repeatedly refusing to lift the gagging order.

The row was fuelled further yesterday when Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was caught on tape asking a Press officer to ban a journalist who had asked a question about Giggs.

Sir Alex was overheard saying “ban him on Friday” after Associated Press (AP) reporter Rob Harris asked how important Giggs was for Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona.

Several MPs criticised Mr Hemming’s decision to flout the court’s order but Prime Minister David Cameron has said banning newspapers from naming stars while the information is widely available is “unsustainable”.

He wants to convene a joint committee of both Houses to consider the issues of privacy.

Related topics:Ryan GiggsBig BrotherAlex FergusonDavid CameronMPsHigh Court