Back Issues (Press Gazette, 26 August)n recalled your 1980 report of
Arthur Scargill’s complaint against the News of the World, of which I
was then editor. He had demanded that we correct an article by Paul
Johnson referring to him as a communist. We duly offered to make clear
that Scargill was now a member of the Labour Party but felt obliged to
note that he was an ex-member of the Communist Party and a former
officer of the Young Communist League. The Press Council ruled that
this qualification rendered the correction unacceptable.
A quarter-century on, I remain gobsmacked that our then regulatory body could come down in favour of misleading the public.
Bernard Shrimsley, London
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