Telegraph censured for fabricated story of banker’s struggle to pay school fees

Watchdog upholds complaint it breached code with article about impact of VAT on a family that did not exist

The Telegraph has been reprimanded by a press standards watchdog after it published an entirely fabricated story about a wealthy banker complaining of the impact of school fee increases.

Ian Fraser, a freelance journalist and author, complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) that the Telegraph had breached the editors’ code of practice in an article headlined: “We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays.”