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| Sun journalist faces calls to step down from press watchdog | Sun journalist faces calls to step down from press watchdog |
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| A Sun associate editor faced calls to resign from the board of press watchdog Ipso after being found to have made false claims about the number of asylum seekers lying about their age. | A Sun associate editor faced calls to resign from the board of press watchdog Ipso after being found to have made false claims about the number of asylum seekers lying about their age. |
| Ipso said Kavanagh was inaccurate to claim in a column that two out of three asylum seekers lied about their age in a column headlined “Trevor Kavanagh: Gary Lineker forgets that we’re not racist – we just don’t like being conned” written in October last year. | Ipso said Kavanagh was inaccurate to claim in a column that two out of three asylum seekers lied about their age in a column headlined “Trevor Kavanagh: Gary Lineker forgets that we’re not racist – we just don’t like being conned” written in October last year. |
| The press regulator concluded that the figure in fact referred only to those who had been chosen to undergo an age assessment, and suggested the Sun should have amended the wording of the piece online to reflect the correct proportion. | The press regulator concluded that the figure in fact referred only to those who had been chosen to undergo an age assessment, and suggested the Sun should have amended the wording of the piece online to reflect the correct proportion. |
| Home Office statistics showed that in the year to June 2016, of 3,472 asylum claims received, 933 individuals had their ages checked, and 636 were found to be adults, which represented 18.3% of the total. | Home Office statistics showed that in the year to June 2016, of 3,472 asylum claims received, 933 individuals had their ages checked, and 636 were found to be adults, which represented 18.3% of the total. |
| The Sun did publish a correction in print once it had been made aware of the error, which Ipso said was satisfactory. But the watchdog said the tabloid had not taken sufficient action as regards the online version. | |
| “The committee noted that due to an oversight, a correction had not been appended to the online article in the first instance. When alerted to this, the newspaper had appended a corrective footnote, but it had failed to correct the statistics, which had appeared three times in the article, on the basis that it was ‘inappropriate’ to amend the words of a columnist. | |
| “Given that the inaccuracy clearly related to an assertion of fact, the committee rejected the newspaper’s reasoning for the delay, and considered that the newspaper had failed to correct a significant inaccuracy promptly,” Ipso said. | “Given that the inaccuracy clearly related to an assertion of fact, the committee rejected the newspaper’s reasoning for the delay, and considered that the newspaper had failed to correct a significant inaccuracy promptly,” Ipso said. |
| Labour MP Paul Farrelly, who sits on the culture, media and and sport select committee, said the regulator should remove Kavanagh from its board. | Labour MP Paul Farrelly, who sits on the culture, media and and sport select committee, said the regulator should remove Kavanagh from its board. |
| He said: “The fact Trevor Kavanagh has now been censured by Ipso poses a crucial test for the organisation. If they want to demonstrate that they are not under control of paymasters like the Sun and News UK they really should take steps towards making him resign.” | He said: “The fact Trevor Kavanagh has now been censured by Ipso poses a crucial test for the organisation. If they want to demonstrate that they are not under control of paymasters like the Sun and News UK they really should take steps towards making him resign.” |
| Separately, Ipso’s board took the unusual step of releasing a statement saying Kavanagh had apologised for comments in the same column about Channel 4 News presenter Fatima Manji. Kavanagh had written that Manji should not have complained to Ipso over another Sun column by former editor Kelvin MacKenzie, which said it had been “provocative” for her to wear a hijab on screen on the day of the Nice terror attack. | |
| The Ipso statement said: “Ipso is committed to ensuring that individuals who believe that they have been wronged by the press are able to seek proper redress without fear of retribution or victimisation. | |
| “In this instance, public comments by an Ipso board member brought the strength of this commitment into question. This should not have happened. The board has received an apology from the board member and an assurance that it will not happen again.” | “In this instance, public comments by an Ipso board member brought the strength of this commitment into question. This should not have happened. The board has received an apology from the board member and an assurance that it will not happen again.” |
| The assistant general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, Miqdaad Versi, who made the complaints, said Ipso’s statement, and the time it had taken to produce it, seriously undermined the watchdog’s integrity. | The assistant general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, Miqdaad Versi, who made the complaints, said Ipso’s statement, and the time it had taken to produce it, seriously undermined the watchdog’s integrity. |
| He said: “I recognise the theoretical value of having a journalist on Ipso’s board but is it too much to ask that the journalist is known to be responsible for their actions? | He said: “I recognise the theoretical value of having a journalist on Ipso’s board but is it too much to ask that the journalist is known to be responsible for their actions? |
| “Here we have someone who has undermined the very reason of Ipso’s existence by attacking a complainant, who has breached the code that Ipso oversees and who consistently writes inflammatory articles. One has to wonder what it would take for [Ipso chair] Sir Alan Moses to request Kavanagh to resign. | “Here we have someone who has undermined the very reason of Ipso’s existence by attacking a complainant, who has breached the code that Ipso oversees and who consistently writes inflammatory articles. One has to wonder what it would take for [Ipso chair] Sir Alan Moses to request Kavanagh to resign. |
| “I would not be surprised if the reputation of Ipso will be irreparably damaged in the eyes of many people across the country who would expect the governance of our press regulator to itself abide by the standards it expects of others.” | “I would not be surprised if the reputation of Ipso will be irreparably damaged in the eyes of many people across the country who would expect the governance of our press regulator to itself abide by the standards it expects of others.” |
| Kavanagh and the Sun declined to comment. | Kavanagh and the Sun declined to comment. |