by Jonathan Heawood.
Progress Online 15th march 2010
The government must reform libel law, a system already cracking under the weight of its own injustice

On Sunday night, 1,500 people gathered at one of the West End's largest theatres - not because they enjoy camp revivals of seventies disco classics, but because they care about democracy and scientific freedom. The Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, is currently the venue for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. So when Marcus Brigstocke came up to the microphone to explain that no-one was going to see Jason Donovan that night, I half-expected most of the audience to get up in disgust. But they just whooped all the louder. This huge audience - which came together only a few days after the Big Libel Gig was advertised online - is merely the tip of a much greater iceberg of more than 40,000 supporters for the cause of libel reform. They have already persuaded more MPs to sign up to an Early Day Motion on this than on any other issue this year. And they may be about to see meaningful legal reform - if Labour can hold its nerve in the face of mounting resistance from the legal profession.

This huge public campaign was kick-started by a single, absurd, case, in which the science writer Simon Singh was sued by the British Chiropractic Association for referring to ‘bogus' claims made by the BCA for the efficacy of chiropractic as a treatment for childhood asthma and other ailments. As Singh argued last night - before the entire audience joined in a ‘Simon Singh song', led by Ariane Sherine of atheist bus fame - science depends on the robust exchange of evidence-based opinions. That is how we advance our knowledge of the world. Moreover, Singh's comments are backed up by the science, whereas the BCA's lawsuit is not.

A democratic approach to ideas and information should be part of New Labour's backbone. The expenses scandal was painful to everyone in parliament, but -