Lord McAlpine buoyed by support after false abuse claims Lord McAlpine, who is 70 and suffers from heart trouble, has not decided how to use the libel damages he receives, which could run into several hundreds of thousands of pounds. The friend stressed: "He's not doing this in order to make money. He's doing this to clear his name and clear his family's name. He's not yet decided what he wants to do [with the money]. He has been a charitable man all his life. He happens to be interested in art and culture. He has made charitable donations both here and overseas, and I am sure he will carry on doing these things. Lawyers for Lord McAlpine are pursuing people who named him on Twitter at a time when there was fevered speculation online about the identity of the "leading Thatcher-era Conservative politician" in the Newsnight report. They have sent a legal letter to Sally Bercow, the wife of Commons speaker John Bercow, for a message she posted on the website. Mrs Bercow was still making light of her situation on Friday, writing on Twitter: "Cheeky sod in Sainsburys queue where I just bought lottery ticket: "you'll be needing that Sal I reckon." Another target of Lord McAlpine's lawyers is George Monbiot, the Guardian columnist. The newspaper said it would continue to publish his articles but would not pay his legal costs.