Corrections and Clarifications

■ November 17, 2019

In the article “Inside the weird world of the Barclay brothers” (Business, November 3), we said the brothers founded The Sark Newsletter and that they had accused Sark’s doctor of negligence. The Sark Newsletter is owned and edited by Kevin Delaney, and it was the Newsletter that made the negligence allegations. We are happy to set the record straight.

■ November 12, 2019

Our story "Russian Tory donors named in secret report" (November 10) originally included a photograph of Evgeny Lebedev. The Sunday Times has no knowledge that Mr Lebedev is a donor to the Conservative party or named in the report. We are happy to make this clear.

■ November 10, 2019

Our article on Jessica Douglas-Home (News Review, last week) carried the headline “The spy who buckled the Iron Curtain”. Douglas-Home was not a spy: she worked in education in eastern Europe. We apologise unreservedly for the error.

Contrary to our report (News, last week), the Chong Hua professorship sits within Cambridge University’s department of politics and international studies, not Jesus College. We apologise for the error.

■ October 20, 2019

An article on the crowdfunding platform Seedrs (Business, August 11) stated that its shares had been suspended from its secondary trading platform during the course of a fundraising.

The fundraising in question was part of its planned growth strategy and its decision to suspend its shares from trading on its own secondary platform was standard procedure for any company on that platform when a fundraising deal was nearing completion.

We understand that since the article was published, Seedrs has raised £4.5m of additional capital. We are happy to clarify the position.

■ October 13, 2019

Our Top Track 250 supplement (last week) stated that Together had shown a 24% fall in sales. In fact its sales rose by 13%. We apologise for the error.

The article “Hold your horses: Appleby divided over ‘lawless’ gypsy livestock fair” (News, May 26) reported incorrectly that there had been 117 arrests at last year’s fair. The correct number was 17. We apologise for the error.

■ October 1, 2019

Our article “Injury fears over rugby’s trans women drive referees off pitch” (News, September 29, 2019) included a picture of Verity Smith. The use of the photograph in this context was inappropriate and misleading in terms of both his gender and his views. Verity Smith is not a trans woman, does not share the view that trans women in sport pose a safety risk, and advocates for trans inclusion in sport. We apologise for the error.

■ September 22, 2019

Our report “Rugby star Gareth Thomas reveals he has HIV” (News, last week) incorrectly stated that the Sunday Mirror had “exposed” Mr Thomas and forced him into revealing that he is HIV positive. In fact, he had approached the Sunday Mirror and was pleased with the way it presented his story. We apologise to the Sunday Mirror and Mr Thomas for the error.

In our article “Enfield Labour council ‘taken over’ by clan” (News, July 15, 2018) we stated that Enfield council leader Nesil Caliskan had appointed her own mother, Councillor Cazimoglu, as cabinet member for health and social care. We are happy to clarify that Ms Cazimoglu’s appointment to cabinet was by way of secret ballot among Labour councillors, and was not made directly by her daughter, and Ms Caliskan’s role in the process was limited to choosing for her mother the portfolio she had already held in a previous administration. We apologise for any distress caused.

■ September 15, 2019

The Influencer List (Magazine, last week) incorrectly stated that Nigella Lawson monetises her online following. In fact she makes recommendations to her followers based on her personal passion and tastes and not for remuneration.

■ August 24, 2019

The headline to our article “Lord Lester cleared of peerage-for-sex claims” (News, last week) incorrectly suggested, when read alone, that Ms Jasvinder Sanghera’s complaint to the House of Lords about Lord Lester’s conduct may have been dismissed. The article reported on the outcome of an investigation into Lord Lester by the Bar Standards Board. The findings of an earlier House of Lords committee are unaffected by this ruling. We apologise for any distress caused.

“World’s hunters set sights on rare deer in deepest East Anglia” (News, last week) mistakenly referred to the 11th Duke of Woburn. The correct title is the 11th Duke of Bedford. We apologise for the error.

In our Relative Values feature (Magazine, March 3), we said that the royal and celebrity hairdresser Richard Ward had “got into trouble” by revealing how he had styled Kate Middleton’s hair for her wedding and mistakenly suggested he had breached royal confidences. We now appreciate that he did not breach confidentiality and we apologise to Mr Ward for this error.

■ August 18, 2019

The article “PM’s ‘bomb plot’ accuser returns to party ranks” (News, April 7) stated that the Labour councillor Pam Bromley accused Theresa May of plotting the Manchester Arena bombing. Ms Bromley did not allege that May plotted the bombing; only that it provided her with a “convenient” excuse to deploy troops. We apologise for the error.

■ August 11, 2019

Our opera review (Culture, last week) stated that the Australian director Barrie Kosky worked with a British company for the first time in 2015 at Glyndebourne. In fact it was in 2011 at the English National Opera. We apologise for the error.

■ August 4, 2019

The review of Who Do You Think You Are? (Culture, July 28) suggested incorrectly that a “distant cousin” of Daniel Radcliffe had pretended not to know they were related. We apologise to Louis Gershon for this error.

■ July 28, 2019

A photograph in our article “Harry Potter moved to tears by ancestor’s suicide note” (News, last week) was wrongly captioned. It showed Daniel Radcliffe’s ancestor Louis Gershon, not Samuel Gershon. We apologise for the error.

Further to our report on sexual assaults against students (News, last week), Newcastle University points out that it has been rated by students as being among the safest universities in the country. Newcastle says it takes every allegation of sexual assault very seriously and appropriate action is taken, which can include exclusion or suspension. We are happy to make this clear.

■ July 14, 2019

The article “Betcha we don’t leave” (News Review, July 7) referred to Peter Kellner’s appearance on the BBC’s EU referendum special on June 24, 2016. In fact, Kellner did not appear on the programme. We apologise for the error.

■ June 23, 2019

In the article “Fresh blow for vulture after collapse of HMV” (Business, January 13), we said that Hilco, a venture fund that invests in distressed businesses, had hit more turmoil after the failure of a cookware business it backed, Steamer Trading. In fact, Hilco had no hand in the day-to-day running of the business and its loan had already been repaid. We are happy to set the record straight.

■ June 16, 2019

In the article “Vulture fund took £48m from ailing HMV” (Business, December 30, 2018) we said that Hilco Capital had “taken” £48m from the music and film retailer HMV. We would like to clarify that, as stated in the article, this figure related to charges that were incurred by HMV, some of which were not actually paid to Hilco.

■ May 26, 2019

In response to our article “Islamophobic activists trade in Tories for Farage” (News, May 12), Luke Nash-Jones has informed us that he is not “alt-right”, nor is he an “Islamophobe”. He advocates tolerance for the non-violent practice of any religion. He states that he has never been suspended by the Conservative Party and has a long history of opposing those who hold abhorrent views akin to those of Oswald Mosley. Further, in April last year he met the Ukip leader to express his concerns about Generation Identity and Carl Benjamin, and passed his research on to Ukip’s NEC. He says magazines were not ripped up during the bookshop incident and he has apologised in person to the shopkeeper.

■ May 19, 2019

In the Rich List 2019, a picture of Gopi and Prakash Hinduja was wrongly captioned as showing Sri and Gopi Hinduja; and we mistakenly stated that Lord Lloyd-Webber sold the Theatre Royal Haymarket to Sir Leonard Blavatnik, when in fact Lord Lloyd-Webber was not the theatre’s owner. We apologise for the errors.

■ May 12, 2019

The picture on page 69 of the printed edition of the Rich List 2019 is not the 7th Duke of Sutherland and his wife, Victoria, but his predecessor, the 6th Duke, and his second wife, Evelyn Moubray. We apologise for the error.

■ April 26, 2019

Due to a production error, an early online version of our story on the BBC presenter George Riley (News, April 21) carried a headline that incorrectly named him Giles Riley. We apologise for the error.

■ April 7, 2019

Our article “I’ll teach women to bag a pay rise, says [named peer]” (Money, October 21, 2018) reported incorrectly that official figures show that women are paid 86p for each £1 men receive for the same job. The current gender pay gap of 8.6%, which is calculated by the ONS, refers to the difference between gross median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) of men and women in full-time work across the whole economy: it does not show the difference between what men and women get paid for identical jobs. According to these findings, women are currently paid on average 91.4p for each £1 a man receives.

In “Yorkshire’s Tour de France knight is on his bike after expenses scandal” (News, March 24) we incorrectly suggested that Sir Thomas Ingilby had lied to The Sunday Times when he answered the newspaper’s question about an investigation by the company’s auditor, KPMG, into Sir Gary Verity’s expenses. We accept that in reply Sir Thomas stated only that KPMG has not been instructed to investigate Sir Gary’s expenses. We apologise to Sir Thomas for the error.

■ March 31, 2019

We reported incorrectly ("When things fall apart", News, last week) that Sir Henry Bellingham MP had suggested at a meeting of the European Research Group (ERG) that members sign a letter asking the prime minister to resign. Sir Henry has pointed out that he is no longer a member of the ERG and was not at the meeting. We apologise for the errors.

In the print and online editions of The Sunday Times on March 24, 2019, we published a leading article headlined "No duck houses but MPs are still in the doghouse", which wrongly stated that Andrew Selous, the Conservative MP for South West Bedfordshire, claimed £30 for quills for letterhead artwork. The correct position is that Mr Selous claimed £30 for parliamentary stationery. We apologise for the inaccuracy and for the distress caused.

■ March 18, 2019

Due to a production error, the online edition of our story "Britons lose out to rush of foreign medical students" (March 10) originally included a graph including incorrect information on the number of international students at British medical schools. The graph has been removed. We apologise for the error. 

■ March 17, 2019

An article on opioid drugs (News, last week) quoted Dr Cathy Stannard as saying, "They don't work and they are harmful." As she made clear, Dr Stannard was speaking only of opioid drugs prescribed for the majority of cases of chronic pain: she believes opioids can play a safe and effective role in treating short-term pain and certain cases of chronic pain, and in cancer care at the end of life. At no time did Dr Stannard describe opioid medicines as "useless", as may have been inferred from our headline. We are happy to make this clear.

■ March 10, 2019

Due to a photo agency error, pictures accompanying our story "Establishment flocks to dine at new society with Kremlin ties" (News, last week) were wrongly captioned. Photographs of Crown Princess Katharine of Yugoslavia were captioned "Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia". We also published a picture of Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia. Neither the Crown Prince nor the Crown Princess attended the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society dinner discussed in the article. We apologise for the error.

■ February 24, 2019

Our story "Meghan takes aim at male, pale, stale universities" (News, last week) incorrectly referred to Cecil Rhodes as a slave owner. Slavery had been abolished in the British Empire before Rhodes was born. We apologise for the error.

In our column "Call me a Mad Man but I believe WPP could live happily ever after" (Money, last week) reference was made to WPP's low share price following a "messy #MeToo scandal". The former chief executive of WPP has told us that inclusion of #MeToo was incorrect, as his departure from WPP did not involve accusations of sexual harassment or abuse.

■ February 3, 2019

Our article "Corporate governance zealots risk shackling the risk-takers" (Business, last week) stated that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) last year extended the reach of its governance code to private companies meeting two of three criteria: turnover exceeding £36m, a balance sheet total of more than £18m and more than 250 employees. In fact the FRC extended its reach to private companies with more than 2,000 employees and/or turnover in excess of £200m and a balance sheet of more than £2bn. We apologise for the error.

The Tax List (Magazine, last week) stated that Starbucks paid £4.6m in UK taxes last year. In fact the total figure was £13.7m. We apologise for the error.

■ January 27, 2019

Our article "The Last Witnesses" (Magazine, last week) reported inaccurately that the Polish government "has made it a crime to talk about Polish death camps as opposed to German death camps in Poland". The 2018 law made it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in Nazi crimes in Poland. This was later amended from a criminal to a civil offence.

■ January 20, 2019

Our extract from Lindsey Hilsum's biography of Marie Colvin ("Marie in love and war", News Review, October 14, 2018) included a description of an incident on a bus in Iraq that the publisher now accepts did not take place. We apologise for reproducing this error. 

■ January 13, 2019

The following correction is published after an upheld ruling by the Independent Press Standards Organisation. In an article ("Labour welcomes back banned activists and Holocaust denier", News, February 4, 2018) we misinterpreted Mike Sivier as having said he was not pretending the omission of Jews from a list of Holocaust survivors was a big problem, when what he had said was not a big problem was anti-semitism in the Labour Party. What he had said about Jews being omitted from the list was that this may have been "political correctness". We also reported him as having said, in a discussion about a leaflet which described the Holocaust as having thousands not millions of victims and which did not mention Jews at all, that he was not going to comment on whether thousands or millions of Jews had died in the Holocaust as he didn't know, when in fact what he had said was "I'm not going to comment on 'thousands' instead of 'millions' because I don't know." We are happy to make clear Mr Sivier's position that what he meant was that he did not know why the leaflet had used those numbers, not that he didn't know how many Jews had died in the Holocaust. These claims formed the basis for the headline's suggestion that Mr Sivier was a "Holocaust denier" and we are happy to put on record his position that this is not the case. 

■ January 6, 2019

Our report "Ladies' loos at City landmarks may open to trans women" (News, July 29) was misleading because it did not accurately explain the current rights of transgender women under the Equality Act. Service providers can allow transgender people to use single-sex spaces such as toilets but can exclude them if this can be justified as a proportionate way to achieve a legitimate aim.