TOP human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar has mocked ITV after the broadcaster mistook him for Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
The ITV’s news programme aired a segment on Tuesday evening featuring Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in Holyrood.
But when naming the party leader, they said he was Aamer Anwar instead – a prominent Glasgow solicitor.
Anwar joked that sometimes he is mistaken for First Minister Humza Yousaf, but seemed to have taken over from Sarwar at Scottish Labour.
He tweeted: “Somedays I’m @ScotGovFM but I see this evening that I’ve taken over @ScottishLabour in @itvnews only problem is I appear to have lost my good looks. Easy mistake, after all there are only three Asian men in Scotland, but I’m not a politician!!”
Somedays I’m @ScotGovFM but I see this evening that I’ve taken over @ScottishLabour in @itvnews, only problem is I appear to have lost my good looks 😂💔easy mistake, after all there are only 3 Asian men in Scotland 🙈but I’m not a politician!! pic.twitter.com/NxFUPbC7GW
— Aamer Anwar✊🏾🏳️🌈#BlackLivesMatter (@AamerAnwar) April 18, 2023
In a statement, Anwar added: “To be fair to ITV news, their editor contacted me directly and offered his apology and told me the mistake had been corrected at the end of the programme.
“That’s the first time someone has had the decency to do that. I told him I fully accepted his apology but it wasn’t going to hold me back from winding them up about it.
“I suppose the question is why for years across the media does this keep happening? Is it laziness, or worse do we all look the same?
“To be fair, whilst people are attacking the media they should take a look closer home, for example at many a party conference I’ve had to correct SNP members and tell them I’m not Humza.
“You would think we were the only three Asian men in Scotland – Humza, Anas and I. Even Ruth Davidson tweeted we try to make a joke out of it, but the three of us have been dealing with it for over 10 years.
“We try our very best to be humorous about it and there is much worse things to be worried about – but I suppose I come out the worst being confused for a politician, a first minister or even worse the leader of Scottish Labour.
“Especially when I’m much better tailored and better looking than those two old guys.”
Anwar's statement comes after a top Labour MP on Keir Starmer's frontbench referred to the First Minister as "Muhammad Yousaf".
