“EU seeks control of our coasts” the headline on the Sunday Express splash on March 6 screamed. “Britannia will no longer rule the waves as Brussels threatens our island sovereignty” said the sub-head. The story was badged “exclusive”. The only problem is it was not true. The EU’s plans for a coast guard only covered the Schengen Area – which the UK is not a member of.
Following an InFacts complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the tabloid finally corrected the story in print yesterday and pulled the online version of the story on October 4. But it has taken an awfully long time. InFacts first wrote to the journalist Caroline Wheeler on March 6 pointing out the error. After it failed to get satisfaction, it complained to IPSO on May 19 as part of a batch of eight misleading stories by various papers. After a long drawn out email exchange, the Sunday Express has finally acknowledged its error – seven months after the event.
The tabloid’s mistake was just one of many inaccurate or misleading stories it and other papers published during the referendum. This barrage of distorted stories – some about spurious challenges to our sovereignty but most about migrants – may well have influenced the outcome of the vote. It is good that the Sunday Express has finally fessed up to its error. But this has come far too late.
Hugo Dixon is co-founder of CommonGround as well as editor-in-chief of InFacts. You can sign up as a supporter here.
