PCC upholds MPs' complaints over home claims

The Press Complaints Commission has today criticised the News of the World and The Sunday Times following separate complaints from two MPs.

Dr Julian Lewis MP (New Forest East) complained that the News of the World had wrongly said that he was “hardly ever” at his constituency home and also claimed he had sought to censor publication of its story. He argued that the article was based on inaccurate information provided by a political rival. The Commission “was not impressed with the newspaper’s evidence” to support either of the claims and considered that it should have offered a prompt and clear correction. It failed to do so and the complaint was therefore upheld under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code of Practice.

To read the adjudication, click here.

The Sunday Times wrongly alleged, on a front page, that Dr Tony Wright MP (Cannock Chase) had accepted money to surrender a tenancy agreement, and then moved to the same block with a lower rent. In fact, it had confused the complainant with another MP of the same name. Before complaining to the PCC, Dr Wright obtained an apology from the paper, which was published on page 20. He came to the PCC on the basis that this had not been published with the “due prominence” required by the Code.

The Commission agreed. While it accepted that the paper regularly published corrections on this page, it did not consider that such a location was appropriate on this occasion, given the seriousness of the error. The complaint was upheld under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code.

To read the adjudication, click here.

Both adjudications were published yesterday, Sunday 9 August. For further information, call Stephen Abell on 0207 831 0022.