The trial judge had been upheld on every single point, he said. The judges ordered the Telegraph to pay Mr Galloway’s costs of the appeal, estimated at around £140,000, and to make an interim payment in respect of that sum of £60,000. The newspaper will also have to pay the £150,000 damages and £200,000 as an interim payment on account of Mr Galloway’s costs of the action. The order for payment of all the sums was stayed pending disposal of the newspaper’s application for permission to appeal to the Lords, and pending determination of that appeal if it gets the go-ahead.

Richard Rampton QC, for Mr Galloway, said permission should be refused by the appeal judges as theirs was “one of the most unequivocally emphatic judgments” in this field of the law that he had ever come across. Mr Price, for the Telegraph, said the case was “right at the leading edge” of the debate over freedom of expression as it involved an elected MP allegedly taking money from a hostile foreign government. He said the story, published in April 2003, was covered by privilege because it was “of truly global significance”. It was in the public interest whether the documents were true or false, he said. Mr Galloway, who represented Glasgow Kelvin for Labour, has always denied ever seeking or receiving money from Saddam Hussein.

He was expelled from the Labour Party for comments about the Iraq war and went on to win the Bethnal Green and Bow seat as leader of the anti-war Respect party, ousting Labour’s Oona King. The judges refused the newspaper permission to appeal to the House of Lords although it can petition the Lords direct. The newspaper was then entitled to comment and offer its own interpretation that the documents appeared to show he received money from Saddam Hussein’s regime, said Mr Price. The judges also agreed that the £150,000 damages awarded to the MP by High Court judge Mr Justice Eady in December 2004 should not be reduced.