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London, Thursday, April 22, 2004

Desmond taunts Telegraph in ‘Nazi’ tirade

Desmond: branded Telegraph chief executive Jeremy Deedes a ‘miserable piece of shit’ and said Germans were ‘all Nazis’

by Chris Tryhorn, Lisa O’Carroll and Owen Gibson

EXPRESS owner Richard Desmond today launched an extraordinary tirade against Telegraph bosses at a meeting of their joint venture print works, hurling a string of abuse and goosestepping around a boardroom in mockery of a German newspaper group’s bid for the paper.

David Irving comments: I NOTE that the manifestly lovable Mr Richard Desmond is also listed as one of the UK’s richest Jews. This arriviste has made his money by peddling a stable of pornographic magazines containing the utmost filth that British law, alas, allows. Poor Telegraph! How are the mighty fallen!

In scenes that will shock the Conservative party he has just pledged to support, Mr Desmond branded the Telegraph chief executive, Jeremy Deedes, a “miserable little piece of shit” and said Germans were “all Nazis”.

The Telegraph executives were so outraged by Mr Desmond’s four-letter outburst that they walked out of the meeting in disgust. As they left the meeting of the jointly owned West Ferry printing company, Mr Desmond told other Express executives to sing “Deutschland über Alles” and made Nazi-style “Sieg Heil” salutes, according to witnesses.

People present at the meeting said Mr Desmond – who dropped out of the race to buy the Telegraph after balking at the asking price – had at one point strutted up and down the room holding his fingers to his lips and giving stiff-armed salutes, in emulation of the famous goosestepping scene in TV sitcom Fawlty Towers.

The outburst will also come as a shock to the Frankfurt-based bank Commerzbank, which bankrolled Mr Desmond’s acquisition of the Express titles more than three years ago.

Mr Deedes said: “It was the most grotesque outburst of a mix of slander and racism that I have ever been subjected to. If it had been in a public place he would have been arrested.”

According to witnesses the outburst went on for three or four minutes.

The Express directors began the meeting by greeting the arrival of Mr Deedes and the Telegraph finance director, Niamh O’Donnell-Keenan, with a chorus of “guten morgen” and “sehr gut”.

Mr Deedes replied by congratulating Mr Desmond on “seeing the light”, a reference to the Express’s decision today to switch its allegiance to the Tories.

Following exchanges about Conrad Black, the Telegraph’s outgoing owner who is battling allegations of pocketing unauthorised executive payments, conversation reverted to the German theme.

In a faux-German accent, Mr Desmond asked if the Telegraph bosses – who also included managing director Hugo Drayton and printing director Bill Ellerd-Styles – were looking forward to being run by Nazis.

“That’s not very helpful,” Mr Deedes said, pointing out that Axel Springer – the German newspaper group currently bidding to buy the Telegraph titles – had a commitment to the state of Israel as part of its publishing philosophy.

When Mr Desmond said: “They’re all Nazis”, Mr Deedes replied: “That is thoroughly offensive. Could you please sit down so we can start the meeting?”

“Don’t you tell me to sit down, you miserable little piece of shit,” Mr Desmond said, before he launched what witnesses described as “a stream of foul-mouthed abuse, both personal and general”.

“After three years dealing with a bunch of crooks I’m starting to enjoy this,” Mr Desmond said, adding, “You sat down with that f*cking fat crook and did nothing,” in an apparent reference to Lord Black. He also called the Telegraph directors “f*cking c*nts” and “f*cking wankers” among other names in an expletive-ridden tirade.

When Mr Deedes said he didn’t think the discussion – a monthly meeting of West Ferry’s finance committee – was going to be productive, Mr Desmond paused before launching a fresh assault.

It was then he mimicked the Basil Fawlty walk, only for Mr Deedes to argue that it was unacceptable to refer to people as Nazis.

“Do you want to come outside and sort it out, then?” Mr Desmond sneered, before the Telegraph executives decided to abandon the meeting, scheduled to start at 9am.

At this point the Express directors – managing director Martin Ellice, finance director Rob Sanderson and publishing manager Chris Haslum – were told to sing Deutschland über Alles.

It is understood the Telegraph will refuse to reconvene the meeting unless there are third parties present.

The two publishers co-own the printing works and have been at loggerheads ever since Mr Desmond acquired the Express in November 2000.

Henceforth the Telegraph will confine its attendance to the wider board meetings that also involve other publishers who use the plant.

A spokesman for Mr Desmond declined to comment.

Mr Desmond’s mention of the Nazis today is not the first time he has shown an interest in the Third Reich.

The Express boss has repeatedly criticised the support shown to Hitler in the 1930s by the Daily Mail, the paper he has said represents “everything I hate”.

Last year he raised the hackles of Daily Mail owner Viscount Rothermere by wrongly accusing his grandfather of supporting Hitler’s anti-Semitism.

Even today, as the Daily Express announced its support for the Conservatives, the paper mentioned Hitler, saying only the German dictator could have dreamed of the monster Europe has become in the 21st century.