All the libel lawyers will tell you there's no libel any more

The words of Ian Hislop, “All the libel lawyers will tell you there's no libel any more, that everyone's given up,” ring with irony and lament. They reveal a world in which the sharp weapon once forged to protect reputation and truth has grown dull, rusted by apathy and weariness. Libel, that ancient shield against false accusation and malicious slander, is now, in Hislop’s view, abandoned—not because falsehood has ceased, but because the battle against it has grown too costly, too arduous, and too entangled in futility. Hislop, a satirist and editor, speaks as one who has wrestled with this law in the courts of Britain, who has felt both its power and its absurdity.

The origin of this saying lies in Hislop’s long career at the helm of Private Eye, a satirical magazine notorious for its fearless exposure of hypocrisy, corruption, and folly. For decades, he and his publication were the target of lawsuits from the powerful who claimed their reputations had been tarnished. Yet over time, as the flood of information expanded through newspapers, television, and later the internet, the very notion of libel began to erode. How could reputation be defended when accusations could be published in seconds, replicated endlessly, and forgotten as quickly? Thus Hislop, with his dry wit, declared that in practice, “there’s no libel any more”—not because the law had vanished, but because the fight had become meaningless.

History itself illustrates this truth. Consider the tale of Oscar Wilde, who sued the Marquess of Queensberry for libel in 1895. Wilde believed that to defend his honor in court was to preserve his dignity. Yet the trial backfired, exposing Wilde’s private life and leading to his downfall. What was meant to protect reputation instead destroyed it. This story demonstrates the paradox Hislop points toward: the law of libel, intended as a shield, can in practice become a snare. In an age when falsehood multiplies endlessly, many simply surrender, preferring silence to the ruinous cost of battle.

The deeper meaning of Hislop’s words is not that slander has ended, but that the struggle for truth has changed. In the ancient world, a single false accusation could stain a man’s name for life. In the modern world, reputations may be battered daily, yet the storm passes swiftly as the crowd moves on to the next scandal. What, then, is the use of fighting each lie in court? Hislop’s lament is that in this shifting landscape, many have “given up,” accepting that to live in the public eye is to endure falsehood as the cost of visibility.

Yet his saying is also a challenge: are we content to live in a world where lies fly unchecked, where slander goes unanswered, where truth has no champion? Or shall we find new ways to defend integrity, ways that do not rely upon the cumbersome machinery of outdated laws? The death of libel, as Hislop declares it, may mark the birth of a new age in which transparency, accountability, and the free press become the true guardians of reputation. But such guardianship requires vigilance, courage, and the willingness to speak, even when lies abound.

The lesson for us is profound. Do not surrender to falsehood; do not give up. If the courts cannot save truth, then let truth be defended in how we live, how we speak, and how we uphold others. Reputations are not preserved by silence but by consistency of character. Lies may tarnish for a moment, but a life lived with integrity outlasts every slander. In this way, each of us becomes our own libel lawyer, not through lawsuits, but through the steadfastness of truth lived openly.

Therefore, let us live as men and women of courage. Let our words be honest, our actions transparent, our dealings fair. Let us defend not only our own names but the names of others when falsehood strikes them. And let us remember that reputation, though fragile, is strengthened not by denial or retreat, but by the daily witness of integrity.

So let Hislop’s ironic words endure: “There’s no libel any more, everyone’s given up.” Let them be not a resignation but a warning. If we surrender to lies, they will rule us. But if we live as bearers of truth, then even in a world that no longer fights libel in the courts, justice will still find its defenders in the hearts of the people.