Watchdog censures Telegraph over ‘foreign benefits’ story – but accepts it was true

Ipso accused of trying to downplay true scale of the migration crisis with ‘bizarre’ demand for correction Gordon Rayner Associate Editor

Gordon Rayner is Associate Editor of The Telegraph and a veteran investigative journalist. See more 

Published 10 March 2026 6:40pm GMT

Related Topics

• Department for Work & Pensions, 
• Migrant crisis, 
• Immigration, 
• Media and Telecoms industry, 
• Benefit, 
• Freedom of speech

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The press watchdog has been criticised for a “bizarre” decision to censure The Telegraph over a story it accepts is true.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) upheld a complaint over the accuracy of an article headlined: “More than one million foreign nationals claiming benefits”, saying the information the article was based on did not prove the central claim.

In fact, figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that the article, published in March last year, underestimated the number of foreign nationals in receipt of benefits, which was actually 1.2 million.

Nevertheless, The Telegraph has been told to print a correction online and in print, which includes Ipso’s ruling questioning the way the figures were presented.

Ipso stated that because the DWP data on which the article was based recorded the nationality of claimants when registering for a National Insurance number, rather than the nationality at the time they were claiming benefits, some claimants might have since acquired UK citizenship, and would not be foreign nationals at the time they were claiming benefits, but that the article did not make this clear.

Ipso agreed, however, that The Telegraph could also publish alongside its ruling the fact that DWP figures released more recently show that more than 1.2 million people with a non-British-citizen immigration status were indeed claiming Universal Credit at the time in question, and that the figure had been above one million since July 2023.

‘Bizarre decision’

Sir David Davis, the Conservative MP and free speech campaigner, said: “This seems to me to be an extraordinarily unwise decision by Ipso.

“I really do think Ipso should look back at their own decision-making. This is not the only time we have had some odd decisions from them.”

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s spokesman for home affairs, called it a “bizarre decision” by Ipso.

He said: “Britain’s press watchdog has forced a newspaper to print a correction about a migration story they themselves accept is true.

“It looks like an attempt to massage the narrative and downplay the true scale of Britain’s migration crisis.”

The Telegraph’s story, published in March 2025, was based on an analysis of DWP data by the Centre for Migration Control (CMC).

‘Beyond question’ report was correct

Robert Bates, the research director at the CMC, said: “The modelling published by The Telegraph – which showed over one million foreigners were claiming benefits in March 2025 – was subsequently corroborated by an official DWP data release. It is beyond question that the reporting was correct.

“We are proud that our estimates accurately raised this huge problem to the attention of the British public, and the reporting no doubt played an important role in persuading the Government to finally publish this important data in full.”

It is not the first time a ruling by Ipso has attracted controversy. In April last year, the regulator was accused of undermining free speech after reprimanding The Telegraph for quoting comments previously made in Parliament.

The watchdog upheld a complaint from the Muslim Association of Britain over allegations made in the House of Commons that it was “affiliated” to the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation banned as a terrorist group in some countries.

Lord Gove, who was still an MP at the time, made the comment in the Commons under parliamentary privilege, which protects politicians against legal action by organisations or individuals for comments made in Parliament.

Ipso ruled that The Telegraph should have sought a response from the MAB, even though The Telegraph included in the article its rebuttal of Lord Gove’s allegations at the time he made them. Lord Gove said at the time that the ruling could stifle free speech.

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