MEND statement on IPSO’s refusal to investigate accuracy complaints on The Times’ ‘foster carer’ story

Following complaints made by MEND and others regarding the Times’ article “Christian child forced into Muslim foster care”, the newspaper regulator IPSO has announced that it will not be investigating third party complaints made under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editor’s Code. Unlike complaints made under the discrimination or harassment clauses of the Code, which must be made by the directly affected party, IPSO’s rules allow anybody to submit complaints under accuracy.

IPSO’s statement that it will not investigate these complaints, due to its concern about the effect investigating the facts of the case will have on the child, is absurd, given that the Times’ has already published its stories on the subject, and given the extensive wider public debate that has occurred since. IPSO taking no action to verify the information published is an abdication of its responsibility, and continues to demonstrate how urgently reform is needed to protect innocent victims of inadequate press standards and ethics.

Despite listing eight individual concerns on how the story published by the Times’ may be deemed inaccurate and misleading, IPSO has decided that it will not be investigating any of these claims. This decision demonstrates that IPSO is as ineffective and ‘toothless’ as its predecessor the Press Complaints Commission (PCC). We urge the Government to immediately enact the full provisions of the Royal Charter to ensure a ‘free and fair’ press.