All those who think Rememberance Sunday is on Armistice Day - We will remember them

During WWII Armistice Services were moved to Sunday and became Remembrance Sunday.  In the 90s the Royal British Legion brought back the Armistice Day silence on 11th on November so it now happens Twice Over ... Although there is no significant event on Armistice Day except a meeting of the Western Front Association (a group of WWI historical enthusiasts) at the Cenotaph... In 2024 Sewerella attempted to conflate Armistice Day with Remembrance Sunday and attempted to pretend the ceremonies on Sunday and the march on Saturday would clash.  A few right wing nuts turned up in the end on the Saturday... that's Croydon BNP candidate Cliff Le May on the far right and followed professional criminal Mr Yaxley-Lennon up to intercept the Palestinian march ... But they were intercepted by police and Tommy did a runner in a taxi.... Anyway....

Our reference: 22227-23 The Daily Telegraph

Dear Mr Miller,

I write further to our earlier email regarding your complaint about an article headlined “Met chief urged to ban Armistice Day protest”, published by The Daily Telegraph on 6 November 2023. A similar version appeared online headlined “Met Police chief urged to ban pro-Palestinian Armistice Day protests”.

When IPSO receives a complaint, the Executive staff review it first to decide whether the complaint falls within our remit, and whether it raises a possible breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice. We have read your complaint carefully, and have decided that it does not raise a possible breach of the Editors’ Code.

You said the article breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) as you considered the article promoted that the pro-Palestine march, taking place on the Saturday, conflicted with the commemorative service on Armistice Day – which you considered was instead taking place on Remembrance Sunday – in order to incite racial hatred. You added that you felt Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday were used interchangeably throughout the article to cause further confusion to the reader. While we acknowledged your concerns, we noted in this instance that there was a veterans’ event at the cenotaph on Armistice day, given this; where the text of the article made clear who organised it – “Veterans’ charities said they would be focused on the Armistice Day commemorations on Saturday… at the Cenotaph for a procession, a two-minute silence and a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate Britain’s war dead”; and where the article did not state that the pro-Palestine march would clash with the Armistice service rather it stated it would clash with Armistice day, we did not consider the article was inaccurate in the way you suggested. Therefore, we did not identify sufficient grounds to investigate a possible breach of Clause 1 on this point.

You also said that the article breached Clause 1 as you considered it implied that there was an expectation that violence would take place at the marches; you said this was inaccurate as you considered there had been little to no violence at the pro Palestine demonstration. As IPSO cannot offer advice on criminal matters, and can only consider concerns linked to the Editors’ Code of Practice we did not consider your concerns engaged the terms of this Clause on this point. If you believe that the article was inciting hatred, then you may wish to take these concerns to the police.

You are entitled to request that the Executive’s decision to reject your complaint be reviewed by IPSO’s Complaints Committee. To do so you will need to email us in the next seven days, setting out the reasons why you believe the decision should be reviewed. Please note that we are unable to accept requests for review made seven days after the date of this email.

We would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider the points you have raised, and have shared this correspondence with the newspaper to make it aware of your concerns.

Best wishes,

Rebecca Munro

Cc The Daily Telegraph

Our reference: 22322-23 Mail Online (Associated Newspapers Limited)

Dear Mr Miller,

I write further to our earlier email regarding your complaint about an article headlined “Rishi Sunak slams 'provocative and disrespectful' plans for pro-Palestinian protest in central London on Armistice Day warning that the Cenotaph could be 'desecrated' - as Sadiq Khan tries to dodge stepping in saying it's not his job to stop it”, published by Mail Online on 3 November 2023.

When IPSO receives a complaint, the Executive staff review it first to decide whether the complaint falls within our remit, and whether it raises a possible breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice. We have read your complaint carefully, and have decided that it does not raise a possible breach of the Editors’ Code.

You said the article breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) because you believed it was inaccurate to use the term “Remembrance Weekend” as this was a coincidence of the calendar. Armistice Day occurred on a Saturday this year and was followed by Remembrance Sunday (as you acknowledged) and the article reported on concerns over disruptions to Remembrance-related activities over the weekend. Therefore, it was not inaccurate or misleading to refer generally to remembrance weekend. We also noted that the article quoted a statement released by the Metropolitan Police Service that also referred to the "weekend's remembrance events". As such, we did not identify sufficient grounds to investigate a possible breach of Clause 1.

You are entitled to request that the Executive’s decision to reject your complaint be reviewed by IPSO’s Complaints Committee. To do so you will need to email us in the next seven days, setting out the reasons why you believe the decision should be reviewed. Please note that we are unable to accept requests for review made seven days after the date of this email.

We would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider the points you have raised, and have shared this correspondence with the newspaper to make it aware of your concerns.

Best wishes,

Natalie Johnson