The Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon has paid out thousands of pounds in compensation after he accused Shaykh Sulaiman Ghani of being an ISIS supporter.
The accusation was made by Fallon in a live BBC Radio 4 interview during the London Mayoral elections where he made the unsubstantiated claim against the south London imam.
Within days of making the slanderous statement, the MP for Sevenoaks apologised for the “inadvertent error”, whilst pressure mounted on Prime Minister David Cameron to follow suit after he uttered the same lies in the Commons.
Shaykh Sulaiman Ghani is also in the process of legal action against the BBC’s Andrew Neil – who first made the inflammatory claims on his Daily Politics show during the London Mayoral candidate debate.
A statement issued on Michael Fallon’s parliamentary website states that he repeated the accusation because it was mentioned by the BBC.
The amount of the compensation is unknown, though sources have informed 5Pillars that is within the thousands.
Here is the full statement which was issued yesterday:
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“On 7 May 2016 I was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme. During that interview I described you as a supporter of Daesh/Islamic State – something that is entirely untrue.
“When I did this I knew that it had been said on a BBC Television programme some weeks earlier but I was unaware that the BBC had corrected that statement and had apologised to you. Had I known of that correction and apology I would not have repeated the statement.
“I was made aware of the BBC’s correction and apology a few hours after the broadcast and immediately issued a statement in an effort to put the record straight. I issued a further statement to the same effect on 11 May 2016, which included my apology to you for repeating the untrue statement.
“I accept that you are entirely opposed to Daesh/Islamic State, that you regard it as incompatible with your religious and moral beliefs, and that you have spoken out publicly against it.
“I repeat my apology for the error that I made and for the distress that it caused to you and your family.
“In recognition of that distress I have agreed to make a payment of compensation and to meet your reasonable legal costs.”
