Author and Guardian columnist George Monbiot is in search of three charities to offer assistance to over the next three years in reparation for his part in falsely accusing Lord McAlpine of child abuse.
After having met with Lord McAlpine's solicitors RMPI LLP, Monbiot has announced he "accepted immediately" the suggestion that he should carry out work on behalf of three charities of his choice over a three-year period, amounting to £25,000.
The columnist is one of a number of social media-goers including several celebrities who sent Twitter messages alluding to Lord McAlpine as the person discussed in a Newsnight investigation into paedophilia, which without directly naming McAlpine, identified him erroneously. McAlpine employed the services of RMPI to locate all such sources and come to arrangements for reparation.
A message which appeared on Twitter stating, "I've just written to Lord McAlpine to apologise for re-tweeting his name in relation to false allegations following a BBC investigation" was retweeted 142 times in November 2012 when the accusations took place.
Rather than accept personal remuneration for the damage done, McAlpine has instead sought support for charities, initially calling for anyone involved to donate to BBC Children in Need.
Announcing his settlement this afternoon, Monbiot said: "In November 2012, when I had over 55,000 followers on Twitter, I did a stupid and thoughtless thing. I sent tweets hinting that Lord McAlpine was the person discussed in the Newsnight investigation of child abuse in North Wales. As we now know, Newsnight’s story was completely wrong. In doing so, I helped to stoke an atmosphere of innuendo around an innocent man...I remain extremely sorry for the harm I helped to cause him."
Monbiot's following on Twitter has increased to 64,146 since he sent the initial tweet.
The author advised he is currently searching for three charities "to whom I can be useful and with whom I can build a good relationship, with a particular emphasis on groups helping dispossessed or abused or destitute children, groups helping children to reconnect with nature and groups seeking the restoration of damaged ecosystems," he said.
"I am also investigating creative and interesting ways of generating value or raising money for them," he added.
Monbiot is a former BBC producer, a current Guardian columnist and author of the Captive State and Age of Consent, non-fiction books regarding corporate Britain and democratic politics, respectively.
