View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
March 17, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 2:42pm

PCC rejects Government gag bid on terror story

By Press Gazette

By Dominic Ponsford

The Press Complaints Commission has rejected a complaint from the
Government about Sunday Express coverage of a civil defence “shambles”.

After receiving a leaked Government document the paper made a series
of allegations in September, including a revelation that it would take
up to 13 hours to remove just a million people from London by train in
the event of a forced evacuation.

The Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister responded by asking the Sunday Express to print a letter of
complaint which the paper said was “riddled with inaccuracies”.

The
Sunday Express refused to print the letter and published a second
article accusing the Government of trying to gag the press.

In an
unusual move for a Government department, the ODPM lodged official
complaints to the Press Complaints Commission. It cited that the
articles had breached clause 1(accuracy)n and clause 3 (right of reply).

Rejecting
the complaint outright, the PCC has told the Sunday Express: “The
commission did not consider that the complaint had established any
points of significant factual inaccuracy.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

“The newspaper clearly
felt that the government’s response to the publication of its report
amounted to a bid to silence it on the subject. It was entitled to
publish this view.” Sunday Express deputy political editor Tim Shipman
said in a comment piece on the subject: “Caught with its trousers down
the government preferred to bully and threaten the messenger rather
than do anything about the gaps in its preparation.”

Later, he
told Press Gazette that all the facts in the original story were taken
from a leaked official document to the newspaper.

He said: “They
didn’t try to serve an injunction on us, or anything like that and at
no point did they put forward a convincing argument that what we said
was wrong.

“We are delighted that the PCC have shown some common sense in ruling that what we wrote was accurate.”

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network