In total the BBC has paid out more than £300,000 after making false allegations that Lord McAlpine was involved in child abuse, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

Broadcast Now report:

The BBC has agreed to pay Lord McAlpine a further £117,000 in legal costs after an erroneous Newsnight report implicated the Tory peer in child abuse claims.

The corporation paid McAlpine £185,000 in damages in November last year, but a Freedom of Information disclosure has revealed that the BBC has also agreed to foot his legal bills for the case.

The BBC’s external legal costs relating to the matter hit £3,000, meaning it has spent a total of £305,000 to resolve the mistake made by Newsnight. It is understood to be one of the highest BBC libel payouts in its recent history.

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Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.