Jeremy Corbyn gets a front-page apology from The Sun after ‘feeble’ press regulator grow fangs
Jeremy Corbyn speaks and reads a Wilfred Owen poem at Royal Northern Gardens in Islington [Image: AFP/Getty].
Is it a response to the ‘fake news’ hysteria?
Jeremy Corbyn has been handed a major victory over Britain’s leading tabloid, after The Sun was ordered to publish a front page correction for a story which falsely claimed the Labour leader only agreed to be initiated as a Privy Councillor because his party stood to gain financially.
The judgement is unusual because critics have accused the recently created Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) of being too feeble to enforce its authority on powerful newspaper firms.
The complaint was made not by Mr Corbyn but a member of the public – a former journalist called Rosie Brocklehurst who worked in the Labour Party press office in the mid-1980s.
She objected to a story that published on the front page story of The Sun on 15 September, when there was speculation about whether the recently elected Labour leader would go through the arcane ritual of becoming a privy councillor.
Under the headline – “Labour hypocrite: Leftie who hates the Royals WILL kiss Queen’s hand to grab £6.2m” – the article said, correctly, that Mr Corbyn had decided to join the Privy Council. But it falsely alleged that his sole motive was to secure state funding for the Labour Party.
Source: The Sun told to put apology to Jeremy Corbyn on front page
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I complained to IPSO, after the first non-apology was snuck out in tiny print, quoting their own rules back to them; that the apology must be as prominent as the original offence.
I got a feeble reply, telling me that third parties could not complain about whether the rules had been followed or not. Only the wronged party had a say in such matters.
I don’t know if this new apology has come about because Corbyn himself complained to IPSO, or if it was the combined weight of disgusted citizens like me, that convinced IPSO to do their jobs correctly.
But whichever reason it was, it’s long overdue.
No, it was a complaint by a third party. Interesting?
Thank you Rosie Brocklehurst for having dealt with this and I only wish we could have more people like you voicing your opinions in the Labour Party.
The Indy article is from December 2015.
You’re right!
I do apologise. It seems someone has revived a story from last year without indicating this was the case, and I’m one of those who didn’t realise.
If you see anybody doing this on the social media, make sure you tell them to say it’s an old story, won’t you?
No apology necessary, Mike. Thanks for your tireless efforts.
And a merry xmas and happy new year to you and yours.