Following our complaint to the Daily Express about Nick Fagge's story "Heading for the UK: 2m desperate Romanians", and a similar action taken with the Press Complaints Commission, ReAct! is pleased to report that the Daily Express has withdrawn the story from its online edition. It has also agreed to print a correction:

 "Our May 16 article “Heading for the UK, 2m desperate Romanians” reported in good faith on a survey by the Romanian Ministry of Youth and Sport.  It has been drawn to our attention that the figures in the article based on those supplied by a news agency may have been misinterpreted.  We are happy to clarify that whilst a large number of Romanians wish to leave their homeland, they number in the thousands rather than 2 million as was reported.  Although there is legitimate concern over both immigration to the UK and the issue of freedom of movement within the EU, 2.4 million is the number of Romanians that have left the country since 1999, with most emigrating to Italy and Spain.  It was also reported that 21% of those who wished to emigrate listed the UK as their preferred destination.  The correct figure is lower at 16%.  

This appeared in the 1 August 2009 edition of the Daily Express, and will also feature on the website of the Press Complaints Commission.

 ReAct! extends its thanks to all those that supported us in this action.