Peter Oborne, the paper's chief political commentator for the last five years, claimed the newspaper regularly downplayed stories involving banking giant HSBC for fear of losing its massive advertising contract with the company. He made a series of allegations about the newspaper's advertising and sales department having influence over its editorial department.

He went on to accuse the management of hollowing out the newspaper, losing track of its core audience, and chasing online traffic at the expense of quality.