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Winter fuel allowance

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:56:48 GMT

Yesterday we reported that the proposed earnings limit for the winter fuel allowance (WFA) was to be £32,000 – in fact, it is around £42,000. The WFA kicks in at the rate of £200 for the over-60s and £30 for the over-80s.

Errors and Omissions: Some things don’t travel very well from Greece to Britain

Fri, 31 May 2013 17:25:36 GMT

When I was taught how to report court cases, at Sunderland magistrates’ court in the 1970s, it was made very clear that there were some things you must be sure are present and correct. Among them are the name of the court, and the charges the defendant faces. Obvious, you may think.

Errors and Omissions: The latest rail excuse? There's an elephant on the line

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:10:51 GMT

The planned high-speed rail line, HS2, is a “costly white elephant”, we said in a leading article yesterday. The thing about the story of the white elephant is that it was an impressive gift that cost its recipient too much to keep. But the rail line is different: it would cost us more than it would benefit us, according to the National Audit Office, but it would not be ruinous, and it is not just for show.

Prisons report

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:47:17 GMT

In an article earlier this week we misattributed remarks about the complaints process in prison to Debra Baldwin, an official with the Ministry of Justice. We are happy to point out that the words were not hers.

Errors and Omissions: Show some cajones and get rid of the asterisks

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:03:42 GMT

I thought I had seen it all. Surely there were no further depths to be plumbed by “when it comes to”. Then I saw this headline, in last Saturday’s Radar magazine: “Grey matters when it comes to bringing out the best of the Dutch masters.”

Labour grandees

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:01:49 GMT

In our article “Labour grandees warn Miliband to be more than a voice of protest” (14 April 2013), we wrongly identified John Prescott as one of those making criticisms of the Labour leadership, it was in fact David Blunkett. We apologise to Lord Prescott for our error.

Reporting of Kashmir victim

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:30:14 GMT

On Monday we reported that Tom Groves, whose sister Sarah was killed in Kashmir last week, had expressed concern over approaches to the family by The Sun newspaper. A spokesman for The Sun has disputed this account and said the paper’s reporter acted properly and sensitively, having made the same approaches as other media organisations.

Errors and Omissions: With churches it’s easy to get your Nicholases in a twist

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:53:39 GMT

“It’s easy to get apostrophes right,” I commented last Saturday on our report of Mid Devon District Council’s policy, since reversed, of leaving punctuation out of road name signs. That will teach me to make sweeping statements. John Housley wrote from Dorset to ask: “Please tell me, should I go to St Nicholas church, St Nicholas’ church or St Nicholas’s church this weekend? Perhaps prayer will help.” I’m not sure about prayer, as I am moderately agnostic about it, but St Nicholas’ is probably best, as it is the church “belonging to” the saint, whose name ends with an S. If you normally pronounce it “Nicholases church”, then option three would be fine, although there is no harm in not using an apostrophe at all. So, yes, it is not always easy to get apostrophes right, but I would say “St Nicholas’ church”.

Trinity Mirror

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:03:43 GMT

In an article in last week’s Independent on Sunday (“Trinity Mirror executives need to face up to the murky past”) we said that a report gathered from former senior Mirror reporters was given to Trinity Mirror chief executive Simon Fox and chairman David Grigson. Mr Fox and Mr Grigson have pointed out that they have not seen any such report and we are happy to acknowledge this and apologise to them.

Errors and Omissions: We might need a solemn oath to save ‘he’ and ‘she’ from extinction

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:53:24 GMT

Could this be a first sighting? Our Wednesday coverage of the papal election reported: “Each cardinal swore a solemn oath with their hand on the Bible.”

Errors and Omissions: Do we need a history lesson when it comes to Napoleon?

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:56:28 GMT

The stripped-down language of headlines can easily topple over into gibberish. This appeared on Wednesday: “Family split forms after Pistorius’ father attacks ANC.”

GFH Capital

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:48:26 GMT

In our article, ‘GFH Capital set for a tidy profit out of Leeds Sale’ (13 February 2013) we wrote that Ken Bates is ‘still owed a significant sum’ from the sale of Leeds United Football Club to GFH Capital. GFH has informed us that we were wrong and in fact, all sums due under the deal have been paid and that the purchase price was not ‘£17million plus other payments…’ as quoted.

Errors and Omissions: The chilling indifference of Millwall's famous terrace chant

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:14:17 GMT

In his Saturday column last week, Tom Sutcliffe, writing about the failure of modern classical music to attract a large audience, used an illustration from the football terraces. Contemporary composers, he argued, had not troubled to offer their listeners a pleasurable experience: “I could not help but feel that my alienation, as an ordinary listener, was always part of the point as far as its practitioners were concerned. There was a Millwall-supporters quality to the tight sodality of hardline serialists – ‘Everybody hates us, we don’t care.’”

Errors and Omissions: The chilling indifference of Millwall’s famous terrace chant

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:14:17 GMT

Errors and Omissions: We have plenty of words to describe big amounts – but not a plethora

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:52:47 GMT

Have we lost “plethora”? I hope not, but the outlook is poor. This is from our obituary of Professor Ronald Dworkin, published last Saturday: “He wrote some 15 books and a plethora of academic papers.”

Errors and Omissions: The Vatican seems less good at Latin than it used to be

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:26:46 GMT

St Peter’s Basilica was struck by lightning on Monday after the Pope’s resignation. Could it be that the outraged gods of pedantry were responsible?

Open to visitors

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 09:53:55 GMT

On Saturday we reported that Balmoral Castle and Sandringam House are not open to the public (“Royal books face MPs’ scrutiny for first time”). In fact, both offer access to visitors at certain times of the year.

Health care

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:01:20 GMT

In an article on health care in the Independent recently, the phrase ‘normalisation of cruelty’ was attributed to Ann Clwyd MP. In fact it is a phrase that has been used by the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. We are happy to clarify.

Errors and Omissions: Don't try turning a colonel into an Oberst or a captain into a Hauptmann

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:04:56 GMT

More trouble with German field marshals. Three weeks ago, somebody wrote about Rommel and called him a “field marshall”. Now it is Paulus, of Stalingrad fame. On Thursday we ran an article marking the 70th anniversary of the German surrender at the end of the hardest-fought battle of the war.

Errors and Omissions: As new constructions usurp older ones, we should try to remain calm

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:25:20 GMT

A little while back, I noticed a billboard advertising an insurance company or something of the sort. It informed the public that the company was the “most awarded” in its field, meaning that it had received the most awards. Now comes this, from a news story published on Wednesday: “A long-running campaign by a minister to get an official awarded for his work implementing a government policy was repeatedly thwarted by senior officials in his department.”

Errors and Omissions: You may argue we need more P G Wodehouse, but you can't say it's a fact

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:24:02 GMT

Slippery things, facts. We have remarked before on “the fact that”. When you see that phrase, you know that the sentence needs recasting. Equally, when a politician says, “The fact of the matter is …”, you can be sure that what follows is an unproven assertion.

Errors and Omissions: When medicine and geology get mixed up in a purple haze

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:14:07 GMT

This is from a news story published on Monday: “His dad and granny wrote the book that set out the medical evidence that Mad King George suffered from porphyry.” Was that a malapropism or a typing error? Either way, there is something gloriously bizarre about it.

Tell-all interview? Lance Armstrong agrees to Oprah interview

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 06:16:28 GMT

Lance Armstrong has agreed to a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey where he will address allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career.

The protests sparked by gang-rape in India aren't the beginning and they won't be the end

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 06:00:40 GMT

After weeks of marches in India sparked by the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman, hundreds of protesters in Nepal rose up and demonstrated, showing their solidarity with a 21-year-old woman allegedly robbed and raped by a policeman in Kathmandu.

The News Matrix: Wednesday 9 January 2013

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:00:46 GMT

Starved girl's siblings sue city's council