Investigation Report
No Significant Breach in Telegraph Column on Guardian Farage Exposé
No evidence of material factual inaccuracies or misquotations has been identified in the Telegraph article.
This is a summary of QC’s published finding. The full text is being migrated and will replace this page.
A complaint was made about a Telegraph opinion column by Brendan O'Neill criticising The Guardian's reporting on Nigel Farage. The complainant argued that the column was a hit job and that it fell below the Telegraph's own editorial standards.
QC identified no material factual inaccuracy or misquotation in the column's account of what The Guardian had reported, the allegations made, Farage's denial, or the absence of corroborating evidence. Pejorative characterisations of the reporting were held to be plainly expressions of opinion rather than undisclosed assertions of fact.
QC found that the complaint went to tone and style rather than to any breach of standards. No significant breach was recorded and no censure was recommended.