Resolution Statement – 06138-25 McEwan v express.co.uk

Summary of Complaint

1. Andrew McEwan complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that the express.co.uk breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in:

·an article headlined “State pensioners given £241 benefit on Wednesday”, published on 25 November 2025;

·an article headlined “Older state pensioners given £440 extra cash on Wednesday”, published on 26 November 2025;

·an article headlined “State pensioners born in these years handed extra £575 today”, published on 26 November 2025.

2. All three articles reported on changes to be made to pensions due to the 2025 budget. The first article reported that “pensioners who receive the full new State Pension will get £241.30 per week” and that this would “take effect from April next year”. The second article reported that “Currently, the Triple Lock is set to produce an approximate £440 increase for older state pensioners from April 2026”. The third article reported that the budget was “set to give up to £575 extra per year for new state pensioners with a full National Insurance record” and that the increase would start “from April 2026”.

3. The complainant said that all three articles were misleading in breach of Clause 1. He said that the headlines gave the misleading impression that pensioners would be handed a sum of money on Wednesday (the day of the 2025 budget announcement).

4. The publication said it had taken care to ensure that the headlines were accurate by choosing words to convey that the payments were announced, or confirmed, on Wednesday. It said that the text of the articles further explained that the changes were not set to take effect until April 2026. However, it accepted that the language used may have been ambiguous, enabling a more literal interpretation that the payments would actually arrive on Wednesday. 

5. The publication said that the headlines were not significantly inaccurate, but accepted that it was possible to interpret them incorrectly. Therefore, it proposed to amend the headlines and publish a correction to clarify the meaning and be better supported by the text of the article. 

Relevant Clause Provisions

1 (Accuracy)

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text.

ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and — where appropriate — an apology published. In cases involving IPSO, due prominence should be as required by the regulator. 

iii) A fair opportunity to reply to significant inaccuracies should be given, when reasonably called for.

iv) The Press, while free to editorialise and campaign, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

Mediated Outcome

6. The complaint was not resolved through direct correspondence between the parties. IPSO therefore began an investigation into the matter.

7. The publication offered to change the first article headline to “State pensioners to be given £241 benefit in announcement on Wednesday” and publish a correction beneath the headline which read:

A previous version of this article reported that 'State pensioners given £241 benefit on Wednesday'. To be clear, this payment was expected to be announced on Wednesday. We are happy to clarify this and the article has been amended accordingly.

8. It offered to change the second headline to “Older state pensioners given £440 extra cash in announcement on Wednesday” and publish a correction beneath the headline which read:

Correction: A previous version of this article reported that 'Older state pensioners given £440 extra cash on Wednesday'. To be clear, this payment was announced on Wednesday. We are happy to clarify this and the article has been amended accordingly.

9. It offered to change the third headline to “State pensioners born in these years handed extra £575 in announcement today” and publish a correction beneath the headline which read:

Correction: A previous version of this article reported that 'State pensioners born in these years handed extra £575 today'. To be clear, this payment was announced on Wednesday. We are happy to clarify this and the article has been amended accordingly.

10. The publication also offered to publish a standalone correction for all three articles, which was flagged on the publication's homepage for 24 hours, which read:

A correction - Articles regarding "Pensioners given extra cash 'today/on Wednesday'" We published three articles headlined 'Older state pensioners given £440 extra cash on Wednesday' (26 November 2025), 'State pensioners born in these years handed extra £575 today' (26 November 2025), 'State pensioners given £241 benefit on Wednesday' (25 November 2025). We would like to make clear that the reference to "today/Wednesday" was in relation to when the payment was announced, rather than when the payment would be received. We are happy to clarify this and the articles have been amended and can be found here [LINKS]

11. The complainant said that this would resolve the matter to his satisfaction.

12. As the complaint was successfully mediated, the Complaints Committee did not make a determination as to whether there had been any breach of the Code.

Date complaint received: 27/11/2025

Date complaint concluded by IPSO: 18/12/2025