MR JUSTICE WARBY Approved Judgment Monroe v Hopkins [2017] EWHC 433 (QB) 76. Heads [1] and [2] can be seen as complementary or overlapping, because the overall aim of compensation is, as usual in the case of civil wrongs, to restore the claimant to the position they would have been in if the wrong had not been committed. Head [3] is parasitic on proof of harm to reputation, and needs to bear some relationship to that harm. It is important to keep all awards for libel in due proportion. To protect the fundamental right of free speech they must be no more than necessary to protect the right that has been interfered with: Rantzen v Mirror Group Newspapers (1986) Ltd [1994] QB 670. 77. Other factors that can affect the appropriate amount include: (1) whether or not the defendant has persisted in maintaining the truth of what was said (John, ibid.); (2) the fact that a reasoned award may help to vindicate a reputation: Purnell v Business F1 Magazine Ltd [2007] EWCA Civ 1382 [2008] 1 WLR 1, Cairns v Modi [2012] EWCA Civ 1382 [2013] 1 WLR 1015 [31]; and (3) the status of the claimant: public figures such as politicians are expected to be more robust than others, whatever the actual position may be: Barron v Vines [86]. 78. There is an overall ceiling on awards in this field, currently about £300,000: Raj v Bholowasia [2015] EWHC 382 (QB) [179] (HHJ Parkes QC). That sort of award is only suitable for the gravest of libels such as widespread publication of allegations of genocide, terrorism, or murder. There is no tariff of libel awards. The Court must seek to reflect the particular features of an individual case by placing it in its proper position on the scale that leads up to this maximum. Regard can be had to awards for personal injury, and there are decisions on particular facts to which the court can have regard, but there is nothing that really assists in this case. 79. In this case, the allegations were serious but certainly not towards the top end of the scale. The extent of publication was significant but not massive in its scale. The harm to reputation, though serious, will not have been grave. The need for vindication is not a weighty factor, as there has been no attempt to prove the truth of what was alleged. This judgment will make the position clear to those who were unaware of it already. Ms Monroe is a public figure, in the sense that she chooses to engage in public life and to engage in political discourse in public forums. The injury to feelings was real and substantial, and has continued. It has been significantly exacerbated by the way the defence has been conducted. Nonetheless, compensation for hurt feelings should be in scale with the award that seeks to compensate for harm to reputation. 80. Taking account of all these matters, my award is £24,000. That is divided into £16,000 for the First Tweet and £8,000 for the Second Tweet. The reason for this division is that the majority of the harm to reputation will have been caused by the First Tweet, and it was that tweet that caused the greatest injury to feelings at the time. These awards are higher than they would have been, if damages had been assessed at or shortly after the time of publication, because they take account of the fact that harm to reputation has continued, and injury to feelings has been increased by the defendant’s behaviour.