John Bercow has followed Tony Blair in criticising the press regulator’s rejection of a complaint about a Daily Mail article, saying the decision “doesn’t inspire confidence” in the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
A spokeswoman for Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, said Ipso’s decision not to order a retraction of the article was based on an “illogical determination” of the evidence presented in Blair’s complaint.
The article reported that the former prime minister contacted Bercow after being summoned to appear before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee inquiry into so-called “comfort letters”.
The Mail asserted that Blair did so to try to “wriggle out” of giving evidence to the committee and claimed Bercow “ripped into” the former prime minister in response.
The article carried a comment from Blair disputing this. Bercow confirmed to Ipso that he was not asked to overturn the summons order and that the conversation with Blair was cordial.
“The simple fact is that the sources referred to by Ipso were not privy to the conversation and did not know what was said,” said the spokeswoman. “Mr Speaker was, and does. If this illogical determination is what people can expect when making a complaint to Ipso, it does not, by any means, inspire confidence.”
Ipso published a ruling on Thursday rejecting Blair’s complaint, saying that Bercow’s “limited denial” did not affect the article’s central claim that Blair had attempted to avoid appearing.
The ruling sparked an angry response from Blair, who said it showed a “major failure at the heart of the new regulatory process”.
“It would seem that the truth counts for little in the eyes of Ipso,” he said.
