Former Lib Dem candidate banned from standing as MP after wearing gender critical t-shirt sues party for £90k

A former Lib Dem candidate who was barred from standing as an MP after she wore a gender-critical shirt is suing for £90,000 pounds in compensation.

Natalie Bird has complained about being unfairly targeted for her beliefs after she donned a top with the slogan “Woman: Adult Human Female” to a party meeting.

Bird, who is a domestic abuse survivor, has said she is passionate about safe spaces for vulnerable women.

She was called an “illiberal TERF,” suspended from the Lib Dems and banned from standing as an MP for a decade.

Earlier this year, Bird sued for discrimination, and representatives of the Lib Dem membership “conceded the claim.”

The case is now in court again to determine how much she should be compensated, with Bird asking Judge Karen Walden-Smith to award her £90,000 for “injury to feelings” for breach of her membership contract and rights under the Equality Act.

Representing her at Central London County Court, barrister Emma Walker said Bird had been the recipient of bullying due to her beliefs.

It is claimed that her own complaints about harassment by activists in the party were not properly dealt with, while the party has condoned the bullying of members with gender critical views.

Her barrister said: “The claimant is a domestic abuse survivor, and single mother, and is passionate about the existence of safe spaces for vulnerable women, and the ability to have healing spaces after undergoing abuse.

“The claimant has suffered from depression since 2017, which is when the claimant was first threatened with expulsion from the party and called an ‘illiberal TERF’, with the purpose of silencing, intimidating and bullying the claimant.”

Walker noted how Bird has been “ostracising the claimant for holding a view which she has every right to hold.”

She also said Bird has been painted as a far-right bigot, and her colleagues had destroyed her chances at building a political career.

She recounted the day Bird received her suspension letter: “On the day of suspension, 11 December 2018, the claimant was on her way to a meeting of the Wakefield District Liberal Democrat Club and therefore had not read the suspension letter, to discover that the chair of the local party, Dr Peter Williams, has also received a copy of the suspension letter and asked the claimant to leave immediately on arrival.

“This was an extremely humiliating, embarrassing and upsetting experience for her, causing her great upset and harm to her.”

She said the claimant was claiming damages for the loss of the ability to progress within her party including losing her prospective parliamentary candidature of Wakefield, as well as harassment, victimisation and discrimination.

Barrister Nathan Roberts, representing the party membership, said liability had been admitted for Bird’s claim “in an effort to save further costs” at the time when she was only claiming £10,000.

He said: “There is no good reason that the claimant says the claim is now worth four-and-a-half times more than she originally and repeatedly pleaded.”

He added that much of her evidence about her “injury to feelings” was regarding treatment by activists, and pointed out that the party was not liable for the membership at large.

Conceding that she could be awarded £10,000 in total, he said: “The claim clearly isn’t worth anything like what she is pleading it is.”

The case is ongoing.