The National Trust has asked for a retraction and complained to the press regulator after The Spectator magazine published an article containing what the charity said were “plain ludicrous” allegations.
An article headlined “‘Fear and bullying’ at the National Trust” (£), by Charles Moore, was published in the weekly magazine yesterday containing a number of false claims, according to the charity.
The article says an anonymous trust employee said job candidates were asked at interviews how they voted in the Brexit referendum and were rejected out of hand if they said they voted Leave.
The article also claims that the charity recruited its “LGBT allies” to spy on people.
The article received a sarcastic response from the charity’s social media account, which has since been deleted.
In a subsequent statement, the charity described the allegations in the article as “without evidence or foundation, and some are plain ludicrous”.
It said: “We have asked for a retraction from The Spectator. We would not ask anyone about their voting preferences in any job interview.
“We have clear standards for all our staff to uphold on political neutrality. It is ridiculous to suggest that ‘LGBT allies are recruited to spy on’ people.”
“The Editor’s Code of Practice clearly states that the press must take care not to publish misleading or distorted information and we will follow this up with the Independent Press Standards Organisation.”
The Spectator has been approached for comment.
In May, the National Trust denied its chair had resigned as a result of reports that a pressure group called the Restore Trust planned to oust him at its next annual general meeting.
The group’s stated aim was to question the direction the trust was taking.
The charity has been under fire since it published a report last September that showed connections between 93 of its historic places and colonialism and historic slavery.
The research sparked fierce debate about the charity’s work and caused the Charity Commission to open a compliance case into the charity.
In November, Third Sector revealed that just three complaints had been made to the Charity Commission about the National Trust’s work and purpose since it published the report.
The charity has a total membership of more than 5.6 million people.
In March, the regulator said it had found no grounds for regulatory action.