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A Ukip MEP has invoked "immunity" given to her by the European Parliament to halt a slander lawsuit brought against her by three Labour MPs.

Rotherham's Labour MPs took Ukip's Jane Collins to court over remarks she made about the town's child abuse scandal.

But today a High Court judge granted her a "stay" on the proceedings, until the European Parliament rules on whether she should have immunity.

But Lawyers for the MPs told the court Ms Collins was trying to "assert the primacy of this piece of EU law over the law and procedure in the court of England and Wales'

European Parliament rules say MEPs "shall not be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast by them in the performance of their duties"

But the Parliament is entitled to waive the immunity for any MEP, and has yet to decide whether it applies to Ms Collins.

Officials in Brussels have told Mr Justice Warby they will come to a decision as quickly as they can.

Ms Collins has been sued for slander and libel by Sir Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley, John Healey, who represents Wentworth and Dearne, and Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham.

(Image: Getty Images)

They complained about a speech she gave at Ukip's conference in September 2014 - a month after a report found that about 1,400 children in the area had been abused between 1997 and 2013.

A year ago, the judge ruled Ms Collins, ruling she had alleged each of the MPs knew many of the details of the exploitation yet deliberately chose not to intervene but allowed it to continue.

Lawyers for Ms Collins had argued it was a political speech which did not contain any allegation of fact, but expressed the opinion that the MPs were likely to have known that sexual exploitation was a serious problem in the area.

The case returned to court this week to decide on the amount of compensation.

The MPs say they should be due some £150,000 each.

But Ms Collins applied for the case to be put on hold, because she was under the impression that her lawyers were going to robustly contest the claim.

Gavin Millar, QC for the MPs, said: "It is simply an attempt to get out of the bargain she made and yet another example of her inability to accept the consequences of her own actions."

He told the judge: "They have a right to finality and the conclusion of their proceedings in a reasonable time."

The judge reserved his ruling until the European Parliament ruled on her claimed immunity, but ordered Ms Collins to pay £15,000 in court costs.

In a joint statement issued later, Sir Kevin Barron MP, John Healey MP and Sarah Champion MP commented: "It is 18 months since we challenged the deeply damaging and totally baseless allegations Jane Collins made in a speech to the Ukip national conference. At every stage since then she's tried to duck and delay the process of justice.

"The judge today was set to decide on the damages she must pay, but instead the court was confronted by the absurd irony of a Ukip MEP claiming EU sovereignty and immunity as an MEP from action in the British courts.

"This may be justice delayed but it will not be justice denied. We are totally determined to hold her to account for the defamatory allegations she made against us."

Ms Collins said Labour were “hypocrites”.

“EU law has been supreme to UK law since 1988 and this is something the Labour Party by supporting the remain campaign with to continue,” she said.

“It seems bizarre these three are so keen for UK law to be supreme when it suits them but not when it suits the country.”