Jeremy Corbyn has lost his bid to overturn a preliminary High Court finding as he defends a defamation case brought by blogger Richard Millett.
Mr Millett is suing the former Labour leader over comments made during an interview with TV presenter Andrew Marr in 2018.
Mr Corbyn was challenged by the broadcaster about earlier remarks he had made in which he spoke of "Zionists" who "don't understand English irony".
Mr Corbyn said they had been “incredibly abusive” during a meeting in the House of Commons and that police had “wanted to throw them out”.
The MP’s defence had appealed against some of a High Court's judge's findings and argued Mr Justice Saini had erred in finding that the statement complained of was entirely factual.
But Lord Justice Warby dismissed the appeal in a judgment handed down Tuesday.
“Mr Corbyn was giving his explanation as to why he had said that the Zionists in the 2013 meeting did not understand English irony. To do so, he was explaining, from his standpoint, what had happened. He was telling the story. In doing so, he provided factual background and context,” Lord Justice Warby said.
The judge also said the statement “crosses the common law threshold of seriousness.”
“The judge was right to hold that such allegations would tend to have a substantial adverse effect on the attitude that people would take to Mr Millett,” he said.
