The settlement in this case was sealed today on the direction of High Court Master Thornett.

My claim against Brand New Tube and its Director Muhammad Butt has been settled, relatively amicably, following on from the discontinuance of their counterclaim against me.

In short, the settlement provides a permanent requirement that the Defendants will not repeat certain allegations. I am not under any similar restriction. They will pay my costs of my application to strike-out the Defence and Counterclaim. I will pay a sum towards their application to amend their defence, and otherwise pay my costs of the claim and their costs of their defence. They are separately obliged by the discontinuance to pay my costs of my successful defence to the counterclaim and to bear their costs of their counterclaim. This is likely to lead to a net payment from me to them, although of course they will have effectively made a large overall loss.

I am backed by a sponsor and will not pay my own costs. The sums involved are relatively modest and I have achieved my goals. The precise amount is not yet fixed because it will be subject to assessment if not agreed.

I am taking a relatively moderate approach to publicising this because I have considerably more sympathy for Muhammad Butt than Sonia Poulton and because in principle, I think Brand New Tube is a good idea. It is clear from his appearance on Rise this morning that Muhammad has come to appreciate some of the nuances of running such a platform. It is my hope he will now take a more conciliatory approach, especially given the many challenges his platform faces. Time will tell.