The Daily Mail and Express sounded delighted to report on an embarrassing mistake made by BBC’s long-running satirical quiz Have I Got News for You last Friday, with the latter telling readers that “a major claim on the comedy panel show has been debunked, leaving Victoria Coren Mitchell red-faced”.
Showbiz editor Jess Phillips (probably not that one) reported that “fans have been left outraged” by an incorrect claim that Multiverse, a company run by Tony Blair’s son Euan, had been chosen to run the government’s new digital ID cards scheme, for which both the BBC and guest host Coren Mitchell have
apologised. Dozens of readers of both papers weighed in online, with comments suggesting that complaints about the error showed that the show had passed its sell-by date.
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Two days before the HIGNFY gaffe, the Press Gazette website reported “The Express was the UK newsbrand with the most breaches of the Editors’ Code upheld by regulator IPSO in 2024, according to its annual report for the year. Express.co.uk was ruled to have breached the code seven times last year, but MailOnline had the most breaches upheld according to the publishers’ own annual statements, with five breaches of the Editors’ Code.” Perhaps these appalling records will feature on an upcoming edition of HIGNFY?
Meanwhile, both Tory-supporting papers were uninterested in Kemi Badenoch’s horrendous gaffe in a TV interview with BBC News Northern Ireland, where she patronisingly declared “last time I checked, Northern Ireland voted to Leave.”
Instead, the Mail’s Quentin Letts drooled about her “smoky voice”, while Express headlines included “Kemi Badenoch could be about to lead the greatest of comebacks”, “Kemi has started the Tory fightback at last – they can still triumph” and “Kemi Badenoch has got her mojo back – and here’s why”.
