Can A Trade Union Sue For Libel?

In the case of Prospect v Evans [2025] EWHC 499 (KB), the Defendant, a former member of the Claimant trade union which represents professionals and specialist workers across a range of sectors sought to hold to account the Claimant's officers for alleged wrongdoing. More specifically, in a post on the crowdfunding website, www.gofundme.com, the Defendant sought to solicit funds "to pay a lawyer to prosecute those responsible for filling in the union's annual returns" for what he claimed to have identified as "15 offences" allegedly committed within three of the Claimant's annual returns for which he said he had been advised by a lawyer there was "a case [to answer] ". The fundraising page contained a hyperlink which took a reader to a government webpage which included links to the Claimant's annual returns.