Daily Express editor Gary Jones has said he is “comfortable” with standards set out in new guidelines on the reporting of Muslims and Islam and that they are not “about censorship or control”.

Press regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation put the guidance together with help from publishers and community groups, saying it was important to avoid “conjecture that maligns whole communities”.

The guidelines, which have been in the making for almost two years, urge journalists to avoid making “pejorative or prejudicial remarks about an individual on the basis of their religion (or other personal characteristics)”.