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The Sunday Times has been found to have breached the editors’ code in writings about Chichester MP’s husband, Michael Keegan. Mr Keegan, married to Gillian Keegan MP, has been vindicated following inaccurate reporting concerning his alleged role in the Post Office Horizon Scandal.
Mr Keegan worked for Fujitsu between 2006 and 2018 but only held responsibility for the UK business of the Post Office for a short period of 13 months between 2014 and 2015.
Newspaper regulator IPSO found the Sunday Times made inaccurate associations between Keegan and the Horizon scandal. The Independent Press Standards Organisation ruled in October 2022 that the Sunday Times had presented conjecture as fact and that they had also presented no evidence that Keegan was linked to the litigation of the sub postmasters. The Sunday Times was found to have committed two breaches of the editors’ code under ‘Article 1’ which covers accurate journalism – the regulator has published its rulings on the IPSO website.
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You can read it here: https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=01951-22
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The Sunday Times was also required to publish corrections to its articles.
In a subsequent development, Labour peer Baroness Diane Hayter, who had named Mr Keegan in the House of Lords in May 2021, has written to him publicly withdrawing her remarks. Baroness Hayter went on to say in a letter dated November 22, 2022 seen by the Chichester Observer that:
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“I wanted to write this letter to make it known that I would not have referred to you by name or made the remarks I did during the debate had the true facts of the matter been accurately reported at the time. The cause of seeking justice for those sub postmasters who have suffered because of the Post Office Horizon scandal is not served by inaccurate journalism based on misleading conjecture disguised as fact. I am therefore pleased to be able to set the record straight publicly.”
Mr Keegan added: “I am pleased that the press regulator IPSO has found in my favour concerning the inaccurate and misleading coverage of the Post Office Horizon scandal by The Sunday Times in 2021 and 2022. I am also grateful to Baroness Hayter for acting honourably and withdrawing the remarks she made about me which were based on this inaccurate journalism. Going forward the focus must be on securing justice for the victims.”
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Gillian Keegan was appointed Secretary of State for Education on October 25, 2022. She was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Africa) at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office from 7 September 2022 to 25 October 2022. Prior to this Gillian served as Minister of State (Minister for Care and Mental Health) at the Department of Health and Social Care – September 2021 to September 2022. She was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills) at the Department for Education – February 2020 to September 2021.
Gillian was elected as Conservative MP for Chichester on June 8, 2017.
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The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is the independent regulator for the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. It holds newspapers and magazines to account for their actions, protects individual rights, upholds high standards of journalism and helps to maintain freedom of expression for the press.
For an overview of IPSO’s recent work: https://www.ipso.co.uk/media/2115/ar20_webversion.pdf
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