BBC to pay £30,000 to Bangladeshi Labour councillor for identity mix-up

Liza Begum. The councillor was mistaken for MP Apsana Begum in a news item, who was acquitted of housing fraud charges that she had vigorously contested. Photograph: Liza Begum

The BBC has agreed to pay £30,000 in damages to a British Bangladeshi Labour councillor after it mixed her up with Apsana Begum in a news item about the MP facing housing fraud charges.

Pictures of Liza Begum at an event to launch Labour’s 2019 race and faith manifesto were broadcast on BBC London News during an exchange on 29 October 2020, in which the BBC London political correspondent said: “This is Apsana Begum … she faces three charges of dishonesty.”