An MP has failed in an attempt to get her local newspaper censured after it ran a story about her expenses claims.

Lisa Cameron complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation after the East Kilbride News ran a story in February headlined ‘Area’s MP second top for expenses’.

The Scottish National Party MP for East Kilbride took issue with the claim on the grounds that her claims were only the second-highest among sitting MPs, putting her fourth overall for the 2019-20 period.

However, IPSO dismissed Dr Cameron’s complaint, stating the News had adequately explained the basis for the headline’s claim within the story.

Complaining under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, the MP had also taken issue with two other aspects of the paper’s story.

She said a statement that she had “claimed £24,052.87 in office costs, £13,202.71 in accommodation expenses, and £3749.26 in MP travel, despite the call to work from home” so far in 2020-21 was misleading because it implied that she had acted inappropriately in claiming these monies, when in fact accommodation and staffing costs were still due despite the pandemic.

Dr Cameron, pictured, also added she had not claimed “£266 for a banner under ‘office costs’” as reported, but rather had claimed for stationery from a company called Banner.

In response, the News said the story as a whole made clear that Dr Cameron was “the second most expensive sitting MP in the House of Commons” rather than the second-highest of all MPs over the relevant period.

The paper also emphasised it had not commented on the appropriateness of her claims, but had simply reported what she had claimed so far during the 2020-21 year and the fact that there had been a nationwide call to work from home where possible as part of the government lockdown.

Further, it provided guidance sent to MPs in April 2021 which included a recommendation for them to “participate in business remotely wherever possible, and Members’ staff and parliamentary staff to continue to work remotely”.

The News accepted the claim about the banner had been inaccurate and offered to publish corrections in print and online on this point, but the offer was declined by Dr Cameron because it did not address the other two alleged inaccuracies.

After an investigation, IPSO found no wrongdoing on the part of the News, concluding the text of the story had adequately explained the basis for the headline, and that it was not significantly inaccurate.

The Committee went on to note that the period to which the accommodation and office cost claims related had included a period in which MPs were able to fully work from home, although the travel expenses did not.

It did not therefore consider the claim that she had claimed some of these costs “despite the call to work from home” constituted a failure to take care over the accuracy of the story, nor a significant inaccuracy or misleading claim that required correction.

IPSO further found the misunderstanding of the nature of the claim about the banner was significant because it was relevant to the impression created by the story of the purposes for which Dr Cameron had spent public money, but the corrections had been offered promptly and with due prominence to avoid a potential breach of Code.

The complaint was not upheld, and the full story can be found here.