HealthWatch members were at a party, organised by Sense About Science, which was held in the Penderel’s Oak pub in Holborn, London, on 16th May 2013.

This is the pub where, on 18th May 2009, a group of well-known scientists, comedians and writers were assembled on the initiative of the lawyer David Allen Green, to object to a libel action against the science writer Simon Singh. This meeting led to a protest against the suppression of scientific debate, which grew into a wider campaign to reform the repressive, centuries-old libel laws. After a four-year campaign, involving thousands of people and hundreds of organisations, the old laws were overturned. The new Defamation Act became law on 25th April 2013.