DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg has apparently rebuked a Liberal Democrat who named Ryan Giggs as the footballer at the centre of the Twitter privacy row.
Lib Dem John Hemming used Parliamentary privilege on Monday to name the Manchester United star as the Premier League player who took out an injunction over his relationship with Llanelli reality TV star Imogen Thomas.
Speaking at Deputy Prime Minister's questions in the Commons, Mr Clegg appeared to criticise his own backbencher.
He told MPs: "I don't think anyone should be above the rule of law and if we don't like the law we should act as legislators to change the law and not flout it."
Mr Clegg was responding to Labour's Stella Creasy who asked him: "Could the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on discussions he has had with Government and party colleagues on the circumstances in which Parliamentarians should be above the rule of law?"
Ms Thomas' publicist has said the former Big Brother contestant is "extremely upset about the whole thing" and remains bound by a court order which prevents her from defending herself.
"She finds herself in an impossible situation where everybody in the country can discuss what has happened except her," he has said.
"She wants the opportunity to defend herself against the accusations that have been put out about her."
When the case went to the High Court for a private hearing last week, Mr Justice Eady said evidence "appeared strongly to suggest" that the footballer was "being blackmailed".
Outside court, Ms Thomas said she was "outraged" at being accused of blackmail and added: "Nothing could be further from the truth."
Speaking in the Commons on Monday afternoon, Mr Hemming said: "With about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs on Twitter, it is obviously impracticable to imprison them all."
Commons Speaker John Bercow immediately took the MP to task over his comments, telling him that "occasions such as this are occasions for raising the issues of principle involved, not seeking to flout for whatever purpose".
Prime Minister David Cameron said that banning newspapers from naming such stars while the information was widely available was both "unsustainable" and "unfair".
The Sun newspaper challenged the order twice yesterday, saying it was time for courts to "do the right thing".
But, rejecting the newspaper's latest attempt to lift the anonymity order, Mr Justice Tugendhat said it was important to remember that the law of privacy was not concerned solely with secret information, but also with intrusion and harassment.
The name "has been repeated thousands of times on the internet, and News Group Newspapers now want to join in", the judge said.
Mr Giggs was a notable absentee from training yesterday as his club prepare for Saturday's Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley.
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