UKIP was hit with a six-figure legal bill at the High Court today for having prevented one of its MEPs from settling a libel case brought by three Labour MPs in order to gain “party political advantage.”

Kevin Barron, Sarah Champion and John Healey were awarded £54,000 each in damages after Jane Collins claimed in her 2014 Ukip conference speech that they had known about child exploitation in Rotherham but failed to intervene.

Ms Collins, who came second to Ms Champion in Rotherham at the 2015 general election, was also ordered to make a £120,000 interim payment on costs last February, before lawyers for the MPs sought costs from Ukip itself.