Thursday, February 23, 2017

When is a quote not a quote?

This week, the Lords have been discussing the Brexit bill. There have been some very fine speeches, including one by Lord (Frank) Judd, a highly respected former Labour MP. At one point, according to Hansard, he said:

" There has been a good deal of talk in this debate about taking the 48% seriously, but there is another statistic that we must never discount. Only 37% of the electorate actually voted for Brexit. That is hardly an indication of the overwhelming popular will; it is an indication that some highly motivated people mobilised their case well and effectively."

This is how this was reported on the Express website (http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/770078/house-of-lords-brexit-debate-live-article-50-bill-theresa-may):

'Lord Judd, Labour, said: “We are the peers, we should not bow to the demands of the people, only 36 per cent of the people voted for Brexit.” '

Note that the Express "quote" is presented as just that - not a paraphrase but a word-for-word quote. Could it be that readers of some popular news sources might be ever so slightly in danger of being misinformed on some matters?