Abu Dhabi-backed Telegraph Takeover Plan ‘Unacceptable’, Says Ex-MI6 Chief

THE GUARDIAN: Sir Richard Dearlove says the deal would be a ‘profound security concern’ and urges ministers to stop it

The former head of MI6 has labelled the planned Abu Dhabi-backed takeover of the Telegraph newspaper as “completely unacceptable” and a “profound security concern”.

Sir Richard Dearlove said an authoritarian state acquiring an influential newspaper poses a risk to the UK and its democracy, and urged ministers to intervene and block the deal.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Dearlove told the government to “put a peg in the ground and say no way” to the sale of the newspaper to the fund backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s completely inappropriate for an autocratic state – even at arm’s length – to be the owner of The Telegraph and The Spectator,” he said.

“It’s just really I think completely unacceptable as a matter of principle, even if they’re saying they will guarantee complete editorial freedom.” » | Robyn Vinter | Sunday, December 10, 2023

Abu Dhabi’s Takeover of The Telegraph Puts Press Freedom at Risk

THE TELEGRAPH: State ownership of newspapers brings with it a unique and deeply troubling set of questions

In March 2022, I flew to Dubai on an Emirates plane packed with sunseekers, most of whom were more interested in cocktails on the beach than politics.

My trip, paid for by the Dubai tourist board, was intended as an investigation into the Jewish community in the emirate. The Abraham Accords had recently been signed, heralding new “normalised” relations with Israel. » | Zoe Strimpel | Saturday, December 9, 2023

If you want to Islamise a nation without shedding blood, take over the nation's newspapers and media. Victory will be swift and assured. – © Mark Alexander

Lord Hague Comes Out against ‘Disturbing’ UAE Attempt to Buy The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: Former Tory leader stresses that allowing effective foreign state ownership of a major newspaper is ‘going too far‘

The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation | CREDIT: Joe Newman
Lord Hague has described The Telegraph’s proposed takeover by Abu Dhabi as “disturbing” and one that “should be prevented”.

The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation in the public interest.

Writing in The Times, Lord Hague stressed that while there was “more to admire” about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) “than to fear”, allowing effective foreign state ownership of a major newspaper was “going too far”.

Lloyds Banking Group, which took control of The Telegraph and The Spectator in June from the Barclay family, is pursuing a £1.2 billion deal to hand over control of the titles to RedBirdIMI, a fund backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE vice-president.

The proposed transaction has fuelled concerns over press freedom, given the UAE’s authoritarian leadership and track record of media censorship. Most senior Tory to come out against UAE deal » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Monday, November 27, 2023

Related articles and comments written by me here and here.

Tory Concern Grows over Potential Sale of Telegraph Titles to Abu Dhabi

THE OBSERVER: Former Telegraph editor Charles Moore among those to condemn bid for the Conservative party’s paper of choice

The Daily Telegraph, along with the Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator, has been targeted by Abu Dhabi’s royal family. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
Tory MPs are used to poring over the pages of the Telegraph titles for evidence of whose political fortunes are up or down in the party’s papers of choice. Now, however, senior Conservatives are more worried about the increasingly fraught battle for the publications’ ownership than with what appears on their pages.

There is growing backbench unease over an Abu Dhabi-backed bid that appears to be the leading contender to seize the newspapers and the weekly Spectator.

And this weekend the grand figure of Lord (Charles) Moore entered the fray. In an urgent plea issued on the radio and in an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph itself, Moore, who has edited all three of the British titles now on sale, argued that a media purchase of such significance by a Gulf state would be dangerous.

“The Telegraph and the Spectator are great British institutions. They should not be controlled by a foreign power,” he wrote. Moore added that the deal would in effect give control to Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, which is very different from the simple sale of a commercial asset to an individual owner.

…

But in the run-up to Thursday’s Cop28 climate change summit in Dubai – like Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Rishi Sunak’s government clearly sees greater financial links with the UAE as an aim, rather than a risk. So tomorrow the prime minister is to host financiers from Abu Dhabi for a global investment summit at Hampton Court Palace. » | Vanessa Thorpe and Michael Savage | Sunday, November 26, 2023

If this sale goes ahead, it will be a case of TWATS AT THE TOP! Only a fool would sell off our media to the anyone in the Islamic world! If this sale goes ahead, the Islamisation of the United Kingdom will be turbo-charged! Are these people who are contemplating this ridiulous and dangerous sale right in the head? One of the first ways of gaining control of the narrative of a nation is by gaining control of its media. This is elementary. Doesn't Rishi Sunak understand this basic fact? Is the acceleration of the Islamisation of the UK going to be Sunak's legacy? The man is a fool! He worries about and wants to put a stop to young people being able to buy a fag, but he doesn't care about the country he is supposed to love so much being Islamised!

If this sale goes ahead, this country will have reached the point of no return. As a nation, we will have crossed the Rubicon! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THIS SALE GO AHEAD. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the buyer and that will be the beginning of the end of press freedom in this country. The beginning of the end of press freedom and the beginnning of the Islamisation of this country in earnest. Gay rights will become a thing of the past. Muhammad will become this nation's prophet and Jesus will be relegated to prophethood. Allah will become our god. Sunak is already determined to take people's right to smoke away. If this sale goes ahead, people's right to drink alcohol and eat pork will be next on the list to be taken away!

This country, post-Brexit, has taken leave of its senses! It is losing its mind! Jesus Christ Almighty! Help! – © Mark Alexander

It Would Be Unforgivable to Allow Abu Dhabi to Nationalise the Telegraph and Spectator

THE TELEGRAPH: Rishi Sunak might fear upsetting Arab friends, but these are great British institutions whose future is now in doubt

joined this newspaper in 1979 and have subsequently edited all the three titles in its stable – The Spectator, The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Telegraph. I remain on the staff. I have therefore reached that stage in life when kind younger people, trying to make conversation, say, “You must have seen a few changes, then!”

I have. They include the defeat of the print unions in the 1980s, the consequent new technology and business success, the rise of the internet and the conquest of print by digital. This has involved frequent meetings with triumph and disaster of the sort Kipling recognised in his famous poem.

As the editor at most of these junctures, I have also seen changes of ownership. I am familiar with the process by which one commanding and successful owner gets into difficulties and finds that he (it has always been men) must cede control to another.

This has happened with the ownership of the Telegraph Group by the Barclay family. From the editorial point of view, they were good proprietors, in that they did not tell their editors what to write.

They also did not tell their editors, however, that they had put up their titles as collateral against big debts. This summer, in a controversial move, Lloyds Bank, angry that the Barclays’ debt to them was not being repaid, put the papers (which are profitable) into receivership. That was a change I had not seen before. » | Charles Moore | Friday, November 24, 2023

This is an excellent article. I agree with Charles Moore’s sentiments absolutely.

It is an outrage that these newspapers and publications could be sold to the UAE. First of all, is every damn thing in the UK now for sale to the highest bidder? Is nothing sacred? Can’t we Brits keep anything British anymore?

Secondly, and every bit as important: selling our press to the Islamic world is a sure fire way of getting rid of press freedom. It is also a fast track to the Islamisation of the UK.

To use Margaret Thatcher’s famous words: No! No! No! – © Mark Alexander

A related article here with a further comment from me.

The Telegraph, the Autocracy and Free Speech: Can RedBird IMI Calm Media Fears?

THE GUARDIAN: One of the investors bidding for the paper is the vice-president of the UAE, which is ranked far down the press freedom index

The Daily Telegraph is more than 100 years older than the United Arab Emirates. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
The United Arab Emirates has a mixed record on free speech. Detention of journalists is not uncommon and the nation ranked 145th out of 180 countries included in a press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Now a member of the ruling elite has set his sights on a UK newspaper whose roots can be traced back more than 100 years before the official creation of the Gulf state.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s vice-president, best known in the UK for his ownership of Manchester City football club, has thrown his considerable financial heft behind RedBird IMI, an investment consortium looking to take control of the Telegraph and its stablemate, the Spectator magazine. » | Rob Davies | Friday, November 24, 2023

The prostitution and submission of the effete West to Islam and its ever-tightening grip on European nations will become increasingly felt if and when our press is sold off to über-rich potentates, to men who are in thrall to the power and influence of their version of the Almighty, to men who believe the final Messenger of God is Muhammad – a man whose apostleship has always been denied by the Christian West.

When a nation is no longer in control of its media and is sold off to Islamic powers, it won’t be long before press freedom will become a distant memory.

If this sale goes ahead, the acid test of press freedom will be criticism of Islam itself or of its prophet. – © Mark Alexander

Press Freedom: Why You Should Be Worried | The Economist

May 3, 2022 • Global press freedom is facing its greatest challenge in decades—not just in authoritarian countries, but in democracies too. Governments are using more subtle tactics to muzzle the media. What’s going on and why is it so worrying?

Russia Passes New Laws to Silence Dissent, Bans Foreign News Outlets | Ukraine Invasion Latest News

Violent Attacks on Afghan Journalists by Taliban Prompt Growing Alarm

A screenshot taken from the accompanying video.
THE GUARDIAN: As images circulate of the brutal flogging of two reporters, a senior Afghan journalist declares ‘press freedom has ended’

A spate of violent attacks on Afghan journalists by the Taliban is prompting growing alarm over the freedom of the country’s media, with one senior journalist declaring that “press freedom has ended”.

As images and testimony circulated internationally of the arrest and brutal flogging of two reporters who were detained covering a women’s rights demonstration in Kabul on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists raised concern over the recent string of attacks.

In just two days this week, the Taliban detained and later released at least 14 journalists covering protests in Kabul, with at least six of these journalists subject to violence during their arrests or detention, the CPJ reported.

Other journalists, including some working with the BBC, were also prevented from filming the protest on Wednesday. Read the rest of the article and watch the video » | Emma Graham-Harrison in Kandahar, and Peter Beaumont | Thursday, September 9, 2021

The Guardian View on Violence against Public Figures: The Threat Is Growing

THE GUARDIAN: Donald Trump’s hostility to the press is so far unmatched in the UK. But the targeting of Owen Jones and others by far-right activists is deeply concerning

Any unprovoked violent attack is disturbing. Thuggish behaviour is repellent, all the more so when an individual is targeted by a group. When a person is singled out because of their political beliefs, or due to their assailants’ hatred of a particular group or minority, the crime has additional significance. With a police investigation ongoing, it is too soon to draw conclusions about the motives of the men who attacked Guardian journalist and activist Owen Jones outside a London pub in the early hours of Saturday. But given that Jones has previously been accosted by far-right activists, targeted with threatening social media posts and subjected to homophobic abuse, there was already cause for concern. » | Editorial | Monday, August 19, 2019

A Short History of Donald Trump’s Clashes with CNN’s Jim Acosta

THE GUARDIAN: ‘The president's insane’: book by CNN's Jim Acosta charts Trump war on press » | Martin Pengelly in New York | Saturday, May 25, 2019

President Trump is really quite objectionable. – Mark

What's Left of Press Freedom in Turkey?

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The head of Egypt's journalists' Union and two board members have been sentenced to two years in prison. Presenter: Martine Dennis. Guests: Barbara Trionfi, Ahmed Badawi and Mohamed Ghoneim

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Turkey - Death of Press Freedom? | Quadriga

Jailed Turkish Editor Slams EU Deal with Erdoğan's 'Fascist Government'

Can Dündar speaks to the press in November before a court hearing.

THE GUARDIAN: Can Dündar, held for his story alleging Turkey armed Islamist rebels in Syria, says EU is betraying its democratic values

The editor of Turkey’s most influential dissident newspaper has said in an interview from his prison cell that the country’s ongoing crackdown on journalists is the worst in its history and that he was imprisoned for doing his job.

Can Dündar, the editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, also said the EU was betraying its democratic values by seeking a rapprochement with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in the hope that he would stem the flow of refugees into Europe while ignoring human rights violations.

“We always looked at the European Union as an anchor, a model to raise the standard of democracy in Turkey to universal levels, not as leverage to dictatorships,” he said. “Now, if the EU, in order to stop the influx of refugees by turning our lands into a big concentration camp, agrees to turn a blind eye while Erdoğan spurns democracy, human rights, freedom of press and rule of law, it means that the EU is discarding its founding principles in order to protect its short-term interests.” » | Kareem Shaheen in Beirut | Tuesday, January 19, 2016

THE GUARDIAN: I revealed the truth about President Erdogan and Syria. For that, he had me jailed: Turkey’s regime not only smuggled guns into Syria, it used ‘state security’ as an excuse to imprison the journalists who reported it » | Can Dündar | Monday, December 28, 2015

Going Underground: Press Freedom After Charlie Hebdo Massacre

UK Government Reaction to NSA Leaks Eroding Freedom, Rights Groups Warn

THE GUARDIAN: Coalition of organisations says Cameron's response has damaged UK's reputation for freedom of expression

Seventy of the world's leading human rights organisations have written to David Cameron to warn that the government's reaction to the mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden is leading to an erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms in the UK.

The coalition, which includes organisations from 40 countries, said it had become increasingly alarmed at the way the UK government had applied pressure on media groups covering the leaks and its use of national security concerns to close down important public interest debates.

"We have joined together as an international coalition because we believe that the United Kingdom government's response to the revelations of mass surveillance of digital communications is eroding fundamental human rights in the country," the letter states. "The government's response has been to condemn, rather than celebrate investigative journalism, which plays a crucial role in a healthy democratic society." Read on and comment » | Matthew Taylor and Nick Hopkins | Sunday, November 03, 2013

Open letter: Human rights groups' open letter to David Cameron on surveillance: 'National security should never be used to justify preventing disclosures of illegalities or wrongdoing,' says coalition »

'Cameron Declared War on Media over NSA Leaks'

The British government has warned it could resort to legal action, to silence newspapers seeking to publish Edward Snowden's NSA revelations. It's the latest in a string of attempts to block the release of embarrassing documents. To talk more about the NSA revelations and the UK government's attempts to curb them, I'm joined live now from Bristol by investigative journalist Tony Gosling.

'Publish & Be Damned!' Cameron Threatens Media Over NSA Leaks

British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a veiled threat against media organizations, calling on The Guardian and other outlets to stop publishing the disclosures leaked by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden