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| 'Queen backs Brexit' headline in the Sun was inaccurate, press watchdog rules | 'Queen backs Brexit' headline in the Sun was inaccurate, press watchdog rules |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Sun’s “Queen backs Brexit” headline was inaccurate, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) has ruled. | |
| Buckingham Palace complained about the story published on 8 March which detailed an occasion when the Queen allegedly vented her anger with Brussels at the strongly pro-EU Nick Clegg during a lunch at Windsor Castle when he was deputy prime minister. | Buckingham Palace complained about the story published on 8 March which detailed an occasion when the Queen allegedly vented her anger with Brussels at the strongly pro-EU Nick Clegg during a lunch at Windsor Castle when he was deputy prime minister. |
| The Ipso verdict – that the newspaper’s headline had breached clause 1 (accuracy) of the editors’ code of practice – was printed in an article on page two of Wednesday’s edition of the newspaper. | |
| Related: Rupert Murdoch will decide Sun stance on Brexit, says its ex-political editor | |
| The front-page article, which was headlined “Queen backs Brexit”, was described by the paper as an “exclusive bombshell”. | |
| Written by the Sun’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, it quoted “a senior political source” and “a highly reliable source” as saying that people who heard the conversation “were left in no doubt at all about the Queen’s views on European integration”. | |
| It said two unnamed sources had claimed that the Queen made critical comments about the EU at two private functions – first with Nick Clegg at a lunch for privy counsellors at Windsor Castle in 2011, and at a reception for MPs at Buckingham Palace. | |
| At the time, the former Liberal Democrat leader Clegg dismissed the report as “nonsense”, while the Palace said: “The Queen remains politically neutral, as she has for 63 years. | At the time, the former Liberal Democrat leader Clegg dismissed the report as “nonsense”, while the Palace said: “The Queen remains politically neutral, as she has for 63 years. |
| “We will not comment on spurious, anonymously sourced claims. The referendum is a matter for the British people to decide.” | “We will not comment on spurious, anonymously sourced claims. The referendum is a matter for the British people to decide.” |
| The justice secretary and pro-Brexit campaigner, Michael Gove, refused to rule out being the source of the leak. The Sun said it stood by its story and planned to defend against the complaint “vigorously”. | The justice secretary and pro-Brexit campaigner, Michael Gove, refused to rule out being the source of the leak. The Sun said it stood by its story and planned to defend against the complaint “vigorously”. |
| Ipso said that while the article itself did not breach the code, the headline did as it was “a factual assertion that the Queen had expressed a position in the referendum debate, and there was nothing in the headline, or the manner in which it was presented on the newspaper’s front page, to suggest that this was conjecture, hyperbole, or was not to be read literally”. | Ipso said that while the article itself did not breach the code, the headline did as it was “a factual assertion that the Queen had expressed a position in the referendum debate, and there was nothing in the headline, or the manner in which it was presented on the newspaper’s front page, to suggest that this was conjecture, hyperbole, or was not to be read literally”. |
| The article that detailed the ruling – ordered by Ipso as a remedy for the inaccuracy – said: “Ipso acknowledged the importance of headlines in tabloid newspapers. | The article that detailed the ruling – ordered by Ipso as a remedy for the inaccuracy – said: “Ipso acknowledged the importance of headlines in tabloid newspapers. |
| “However, it did not follow from the comments the article reported that the Queen wanted the UK to leave the EU as a result of the referendum: that suggestion was conjecture and the committee noted that none of those quoted in the story were reported as making such a claim. | “However, it did not follow from the comments the article reported that the Queen wanted the UK to leave the EU as a result of the referendum: that suggestion was conjecture and the committee noted that none of those quoted in the story were reported as making such a claim. |
| “The headline was not supported by the text. It was significantly misleading – given that it suggested a fundamental breach of the Queen’s constitutional obligations.” | “The headline was not supported by the text. It was significantly misleading – given that it suggested a fundamental breach of the Queen’s constitutional obligations.” |
| The complaint was the first by a reigning monarch to the official press watchdog in the UK. | |
| The decision is also the first time Ipso has ruled on the newly-revised clause 1 of the editors’ code of practice, which makes specific reference to “headlines not supported by the text” as an example of inaccurate, misleading or distorted information. | |
| Commenting on the adjudication, Ipso chief executive Matt Tee said: “Clause 1 of the editors’ code was amended in January 2016 with specific reference to ‘headlines not supported by the text’. | |
| “The editors’ code committee clearly wanted Ipso to pay close attention to the use of headlines, something we have done in the period since the new code was issued. | |
| “The Sun’s headline was significantly misleading and represented a failure to take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information.” | |
| He added: “Ipso will continue to carry out our work without fear or favour and will continue to support those who feel wronged by the press, whoever they are.” |