BBC APOLOGIZES TO POLITICIANS
The British Broadcasting Corp. has agreed to pay libel damages and apologize to two Conservative members of Parliament who sued after a BBC television program alleged that they had links to far-right groups.
The BBC said this week that it apologized unreservedly for “damage and distress” to the two politicians, Neil Hamilton and Gerald Howarth, and their families. It agreed to apologize on the air next week.
It acknowledged the allegations were “false and should not have been included in the program.”
Hamilton said that he and Howarth each would receive $28,600 in damages, and that the BBC would pay their legal costs of $344,254.
Hamilton’s suit against the BBC and four BBC editors and reporters was before the High Court when the settlement was announced. Howarth’s suit was to have gone to court in a few months.
At issue was a broadcast of the investigative program “Panorama” two years ago. The program investigated allegations that far-right groups were trying to infiltrate the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
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