Rothschild threatens to 'destroy' Osborne if Tories continue to 'rubbish' his Corfu story

Daily Mail 23rd October 2008

Millionaire banker Nat Rothschild, who accused shadow chancellor George Osborne of soliciting a £50,000 donation from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, has warned he will 'come back at' the shadow chancellor if the Conservatives continue to throw doubt on his account of their meetings at his Corfu villa, it was claimed today.

The merchant banker offered a truce to the Tories after two days in which he has been at loggerheads with the party, but insisted he was not running up 'a white flag of surrender'.

Mr Rothschild's sensational claim has put intense pressure on the shadow chancellor, culminating in a call yesterday from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for 'the authorities' to look into Mr Osborne's relationship with aluminium tycoon Mr Deripaska.

Don't cross me: Nat Rothschild (left) has warned he will destroy George Osborne (right) if the Tories continue to question his account of the discussions that took place at his villa on Corfu

The affair was kick-started on Tuesday with a letter in The Times from the banking heir claiming that Mr Osborne and Tory fundraiser Andrew Feldman sought to secure a £50,000 donation when they visited Mr Deripaska's yacht in Corfu with him.

When the Conservatives denied the claim, an apparently furious Mr Rothschild - an Oxford friend of Mr Osborne - stoked up the row by announcing he had an independent witness who could corroborate his story.

 

Today, sources close to Mr Rothschild suggested he had initially intended his letter to be no more than a 'slap on the wrist' for Mr Osborne, who he blamed for leaking details of a private conversation with Business Secretary Lord Mandelson at a dinner he hosted during the Corfu holiday.

The source told The Guardian that Mr Rothschild did not want to escalate the dispute further, but added: 'This is not a white flag of surrender. He dropped his bombshell because he was angry. This is not a campaign to get George.'

Mr Rothschild has written witness statements from two friends, including James Goodwin, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, said the source, adding: 'If anything is put out that in any way contradicts what he has said, Nat will come back.'

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Donor row: Prime Minister Gordon Brown stunned MPs when he called for an official inquiry into Mr Osborne's relationship with Oleg Deripaska

He claimed Mr Goodwin had witnessed the conversation and 'recalls that the subject of a donation by Mr Deripaska's UK company also arose briefly while we were on the boat, but the conversation gained no traction'.

Mr Rothschild said that at dinner at his house later that evening, the subject again came up in conversation, and Mr Osborne 'was interested in whether and how such a donation could be secured'.

The banker said that a phone call between him and Mr Feldman in mid-September, when the possibility of a donation was again discussed, left him 'with the impression that the Conservative Party remained interested in pursuing it'.

Former Labour minister Denis MacShane last night issued a list of questions for Mr Osborne to answer, including whether Mr Deripaska or the Tories had finally decided it would not be appropriate to 'channel' a donation through one of the oligarch's British companies, Leyland Daf.

Mr MacShane warned he was ready to take the matter to the Electoral Commission or Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon unless there were satisfactory replies.

But the Tories accused him of a 'desperate attempt' to keep the story in the headlines, insisting that all his questions had already been answered in a statement issued by Mr Osborne and Mr Feldman on Tuesday.

The person who should provide more information was Lord Mandelson, who was present at many of the Corfu social events with Mr Osborne, said a Tory spokesman.

Happy birthday to me: Lord Mandelson, whose just turned 55, looks jubilant

Senior party figures were last night rallying around their beleaguered shadow chancellor, accusing the Prime Minister of trying to use 'Westminster tittle-tattle' to deflect attention from unfavourable economic news.

'With the pound plunging, the stock market going down, the housing market going down, unemployment going up and the economy going into recession, the Government would like to talk about anything else but what is happening to the lives of real people in this country,' said shadow cabinet member Liam Fox.

'This attention being given to what is little more than Westminster tittle-tattle is really quite confusing to people worrying about whether their homes are going to be repossessed and whether they will keep their jobs.'

Family holiday: Mr Osborne was on holiday with his wife Frances and children at the Rothschild's villa in Corfu when he met Mr Deripaska

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine told BBC2's Newsnight: 'For the Prime Minister to start trying to muddy the water by calling for some inquiry into wholly irrelevant events that led to nothing is an extraordinary lapse of prime ministerial judgment.'

For his part, Mr Osborne has flatly denied either he or Mr Feldman raised the prospect of a donation from Mr Deripaska at the social gatherings.

Under the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 it would have been illegal for Mr Deripaska, who is reputed to be Russia's richest man, to donate to a British party as he is not on the UK electoral register.

It would also have been illegal for the Tories to accept a "disguised" gift through one of the oligarch's British companies.

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But the Electoral Commission made clear yesterday that it had no intention of starting a probe, because soliciting a donation which was not eventually made could not constitute a breach of the law.

Meanwhile, the office of Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Mr Lyon - who has powers to investigate the general conduct of MPs - said it had not received any complaint against Mr Osborne.

However Mr Brown has described Mr Osbourne's attempt to solicit a donation from Mr Deripaska a 'very serious matter'.

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During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Brown insisted that the 'authorities' should look into the affair - a call that took even his own MPs by surprise, since there is no suggestion that Mr Osborne broke the law or any Parliamentary rules.

But pressure on the Shadow Chancellor increased yesterday as former party chairman Lord Tebbit became the first senior Tory to criticise his conduct.

He said he did not believe Mr Osborne would have been foolish enough to attempt to solicit money from Mr Deripaska, knowing a donation from a foreigner would have been illegal.

'On the other hand, one has to say that George Osborne should remember that those who sleep with dogs will get fleas.'

Knife-in-the-back moment: Nat Rothschild and his accusing letter to The Times

Today's Spectator magazine quotes friends of the financier as saying he was 'furious' with Mr Osborne for using him as a ' political pawn' by leaking gossip about Lord Mandelson, another guest on Mr Deripaska's yacht.

Having invited him to a private gathering, he was seen to have breached the code of the 'international billionaires' club and displayed extreme rudeness', they said.

George doesn't play in that league,' one friend was quoted as saying. 'He was granted honorary membership of the club for a few days and he blew it.'

However, there is widespread speculation that there must have been an additional reason why Mr Rothschild reacted so spectacularly, effectively attempting to destroy the Shadow Chancellor's career.

Gift: Lord Rothschild's estate on Corfu where Mr Osborne enjoyed a free holiday

The Spectator speculates that personal animosity 'can run deep between boyhood friends' and that Mr Rothschild might have been uneasy at the idea of seeing an old friend becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer.

It was also claimed yesterday that the Rothschild family is considering halting donations to Mr Osborne's office following the row.

Nat's mother Lady Rothschild has given £190,000 to fund Mr Osborne's office, helping pay for staff, entertaining and research papers.

But rumours are circulating that Nat was encouraged by his father to launch his attack on the Shadow Chancellor. 'Lord Rothschild increasingly thinks that George is a lightweight,' a source was quoted as saying. 'And he might have a hand in all this.'

From serial partygoer to international powerbroker: The financier Nathaniel Rothschild

Guardian October 22 2008

Nathaniel Rothschild's rise to wealth and influence is the story of a transformation from prodigal son to international powerbroker.

As a young man, the fifth Baron Rothschild-in-waiting was famed more for his partying on the London social circuit and his drinking with the raucous Bullingdon dining and drinking club at Oxford University than for any business acumen which might burnish the reputation of his family's 200-year-old banking dynasty.

In 1995, at about the time he was a 25-year-old apprentice investment analyst with the investment firm Gleacher & Company, he behaved more like a society playboy and eloped to Las Vegas to marry the model Annabelle Neilson, whom he had met on a beach in India.

The marriage soon broke up and he remained a regular face on the party scenes of London, Paris and New York. To some it was evidence that he was unwilling to take on the burden conferred by his family's reputation. Two of his cousins had died early. Amschel Rothschild was found hanged in a hotel bathroom at the age of 41 and Raphael de Rothschild died from a heroin overdose on a Manhattan pavement when he was 23.

Little more than 10 years later his fortunes have been transformed and Rothschild now looks set to become one of the most succesful members of the family. He has a partnership in Atticus Capital, a $14bn New York-based hedge fund, a web of private equity investments in Ukraine and eastern Europe and homes in Corfu, Paris, Moscow and London as well as his principal home in Klosters, Switzerland. He is also on the international advisory panel of the influential Brookings Institution and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005.

"This is the story of Prince Hal turning into Henry V," Charles Phillips, who supervised Rothschild in 1995 when he was at Gleacher, has said. "He is one of the few sons of great men who has enhanced the family stature and created his own wealth."

Now 37, Rothschild is an adviser to Oleg Deripaska and like his ancestors he has thrived by providing discreet business advice, jetting in on his Gulfstream jet and serving guests the best wines from his family's Bordeaux vinyards. Roman Abramovich is said to be among his close contacts.

Rothschild is the youngest son of Jacob Rothschild, the fourth baron, who split from the family bank in 1980 to start his own career as an investment banker. He sent Nathaniel to school at Eton and he won a place to study Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford, where he graduated with an MA. He was a contemporary of George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, and the pair were photographed together looking stony-faced and haughty in the Bullingdon Club's traditional dining garb of tailcoat, golden waistcoat and bow tie. Rothschild has cultivated a reputation as a private individual and in photographs he often looks serious, but he is a key part of the international social scene. Princess Beatrice recently took a boyfriend on holiday on Rothschild's yacht in the Bahamas and he has a reputation for dating models and actresses.

Rothschild's wealth, which together with his 71-year-old father was put at £1.4bn in the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List, is largely derived from their stake in the London-based investment trust RIT and his stake in Atticus, which alone has been estimated at £350m.

Nathaniel Rothschild's letter and the Conservative response

Guardian 21st October 2008

The letter from Nathaniel Rothschild, published in the Times

Sir,

Since your paper - along with your sister publication the Sunday Times - has made much out of what may or may not have happened at a private gathering of my friends this summer in Corfu, I thought I should make the following observations.

I am surprised that you focus on the fact that one of my guests, Peter Mandelson, is a friend of another, Oleg Deripaska.

Not once in the acres of coverage did you mention that George Osborne, who also accepted my hospitality, found the opportunity of meeting with Mr Deripaska so good that he invited the Conservatives' fundraiser Andrew Feldman, who was staying nearby, to accompany him on to Mr Deripaska's boat to solicit a donation.

Since Mr Deripaska is not a British citizen, it was suggested by Mr Feldman, in a subsequent conversation at which Mr Deripaska was not present, that the donation was "channelled" through one of Mr Deripaska's British companies. Mr Deripaska declined to make any donation.

I mention this because it turns out that your obsession with Mr Mandelson is trivial in light of Mr Osborne's actions. I also think it ill behoves all political parties to try and make capital at the expense of another in such circumstances.

Perhaps in future it would be better if all involved accepted the age-old adage that private parties are just that.

Nathaniel Rothschild, Klosters, Switzerland
Statement issued by the Conservative party

The allegations made in Mr Rothschild's letter are completely untrue.

Both Andrew Feldman and George Osborne deny absolutely that they attempted to solicit a donation from Oleg Deripaska. Nor did they suggest a method by which he could conceal a donation via a British company.

They spent a short period of time on Mr Deripaska's boat at the invitation of Mr Rothschild. Donations to the Conservative party were not discussed with Mr Deripaska.

In a conversation on September 18, Mr Rothschild suggested to Andrew Feldman that Mr Deripaska wanted to make a donation to the party through one of his British companies. The offer was not taken up.

For clarity: the Conservative party has neither sought nor received any donations from Mr Deripaska nor any of his companies.

How The Jews Took Great Britain

By Brother Nathaniel Kapner

Real Jew News
Brother Nathaniel Kapner




IT ALL STARTED with The Edict of Expulsion of 1290 AD. The Jews would have us believe that their expulsion from England by Edward I (reigned 1272-1307) was due to their money lending endeavors. The real reason was due to the Jews’ crime of blood ritual murders.

The Orthodox Christian historian of the 5th Century, Socrates Scholasticus, in his Ecclesiastical History, 7:16, recounts an incident about Jews killing a Christian child:

— “At a place near Antioch in Syria, the Jews, in derision of the Cross and those who put their trust in the Crucified One, seized a Christian boy, and having bound him to a cross they made, began to sneer at him. In a little while becoming so transported with fury, they scourged the child until he died under their hands.” —

Here are a few examples which led to the English expulsion of the Jews in 1290 AD:

1144 A.D. Norwich: A twelve year-old boy was crucified and his side pierced at the Jewish Passover. His body was found in a sack hidden in a tree. A converted Jew to Christianity named Theobald of Cambridge informed the authorities that the Jews took blood every year from a Christian child because they thought that only by so doing could they ever return to Palestine. The boy has ever since been known as St. William.

1160 A.D. Gloucester: The body of a child named Harold was found in the river with the wounds of crucifixion.

1255 A.D. Lincoln: A boy named Hugh was tortured and crucified by the Jews. The boy’s mother found the body in a well on the premises of a Jew named Jopin. 18 Jews were hanged for the crime by King Henry III.

1290 A.D. Oxford: The Patent Roll 18 Of Edward I, 21st June 1290 contains an order for the Gaol delivery of a Jew named Isaac de Pulet for the murder and blood letting of a Christian boy. Only one month after this, King Edward I issued his decree expelling the Jews from England.

(See Sources #1 Below )

OLIVER CROMWELL & THE BEHEADING OF KING CHARLES I IN 1649


FINANCED BY THE JEWS

JEWISH BANKERS FROM AMSTERDAM led by the Jewish financier and army contractor of Cromwell’s New Model Army, Fernandez Carvajal and assisted by Portuguese Ambassador De Souza, a Marano (secret Jew), saw an opportunity to exploit in the civil unrest led by Oliver Cromwell in 1643.

A stable Christian society of ancient traditions binding the Monarchy, Church, State, nobles and people into one solemn bond was disrupted by Calvin’s Protestant uprising. The Jews of Amsterdam exploited this civil unrest and made their move. They contacted Oliver Cromwell in a series of letters:

Cromwell To Ebenezer Pratt of the Mulheim Synagogue in Amsterdam,

16th June 1647:

— “In return for financial support will advocate admission of Jews to England: This however impossible while Charles living. Charles cannot be executed without trial, adequate grounds for which do not at present exist. Therefore advise that Charles be assassinated, but will have nothing to do with arrangements for procuring an assassin, though willing to help in his escape.” —

To Oliver Cromwell From Ebenezer Pratt, 12th July 1647:

— “Will grant financial aid as soon as Charles removed and Jews admitted. Assassination too dangerous. Charles shall be given opportunity to escape: His recapture will make trial and execution possible. The support will be liberal, but useless to discuss terms until trial commences.” —

Cromwell had carried out the orders of the Jewish financiers and beheaded, (yes, Cromwell and his Jewish sponsors must face Christ!), King Charles I on January 30 1649.

Beginning in 1655, Cromwell, through his alliance with the Jewish bankers of Amsterdam and specifically with Manasseh Ben Israel and his brother-in-law, David Abravanel Dormido, initiated the resettlement of the Jews in England.

(See Sources #2 Below )

JEWS GET THEIR CENTRAL BANK OF ENGLAND

WILLIAM STADHOLDER, a Dutch army careerist, was a handsome chap with money problems. The Jews saw another opportunity and through their influence arranged for William’s elevation to Captain General of the Dutch Forces. The next step up the ladder for William was his elevation by the Jews to the aristocratic title of William, Prince of Orange.

The Jews then arranged a meeting between William and Mary, the eldest daughter of the Duke of York. The Duke was only one place removed from becoming King of England. In 1677 Princess Mary of England married William Prince of Orange. To place William upon the throne of England it was necessary to get rid of both Charles II and the Duke of York who was slated to become James II of the Stuarts. It is important to note that none of the Stuarts would grant charter for an English national bank. That is why murder, civil war, and religious conflicts plagued their reigns by the Jewish bankers.

In 1685, King Charles II died and the Duke of York became King James II of England. In 1688 the Jews ordered William Prince of Orange to land in England at Torbay. Because of an ongoing Campaign of L’Infamie against King James II contrived by the Jews, he abdicated and fled to France. William of Orange and Mary were proclaimed King and Queen of England.

The new King William III soon got England involved in costly wars against Catholic France which put England deep into debt. Here was the Jewish bankers’ chance to collect. So King William, under orders from the Elders of Zion in Amsterdam, persuaded the British Treasury to borrow 1.25 million pounds sterling from the Jewish bankers who had helped him to the throne.

Since the state’s debts had risen dramatically, the government had no choice but to accept. But there were conditions attached: The names of the lenders were to be kept secret and that they be granted a Charter to establish a Central Bank of England. Parliament accepted and the Jewish bankers sunk their tentacles into Great Britain.

ENTER THE ROTHSCHILDS

MAYER AMSCHEL BAUER OPENED a money lending business on Judenstrasse (Jew Street) in Frankfurt Germany in 1750 and changed his name to Rothschild. Mayer Rothschild had five sons. The smartest of his sons, Nathan, was sent to London to establish a bank in 1806. Much of the initial funding for the new bank was tapped from the British East India Company which Mayer Rothschild had significant control of. Mayer Rothschild placed his other four sons in Frankfort, Paris, Naples, and Vienna.

In 1814, Nathanael Rothschild saw an opportunity in the Battle of Waterloo. Early in the battle, Napoleon appeared to be winning and the first military report to London communicated that fact. But the tide turned in favor of Wellington. A courier of Nathan Rothschild brought the news to him in London on June 20. This was 24 hours before Wellington’s courier arrived in London with the news of Wellington’s victory. Seeing this fortuitous event, Nathan Rothschild began spreading the rumor that Britain was defeated.

With everyone believing that Wellington was defeated, Nathan Rothschild began to sell all of his stock on the English Stock Market. Everyone panicked and also began selling causing stocks to plummet to practically nothing. At the last minute, Nathan Rothschild began buying up the stocks at rock-bottom prices.

This gave the Rothschild family complete control of the British economy - now the financial centre of the world and forced England to set up a revamped Bank of England with Nathan Rothschild in control.

(See Sources #4 Below )

ALL ABOUT THE JEWISH VATICAN

(As much as that is possible given Rothschild secrecy)

A PRIVATE FINANCIAL CORPORATION exists today in England known as “The City.” It is also known as The Jewish Vatican located in the heart of Greater London.

A Committee of 12 men rule The Jewish Vatican. They are known as “The Crown.” The City and its rulers, The Crown, are not subject to the Parliament. They are a Sovereign State within a State.

The City is the financial hub of the world. It is here that the Rothschilds have their base of operations and their centrality of control:

* The Central Bank of England (controlled by the Rothschilds) is located in The City.

* All major British banks have their main offices in The City.

* 385 foreign banks are located in The City.


* 70 banks from the United States are located in The City.

* The London Stock Exchange is located in The City.

* Lloyd’s of London is located in The City.


* The Baltic Exchange (shipping contracts) is located in The City.

* Fleet Street (newspapers & publishing) is located in The City.

* The London Metal Exchange is located in The City.


* The London Commodity Exchange (trading rubber, wool, sugar, coffee) is located in The City.

Every year a Lord Mayor is elected as monarch of The City. The British Parliament does not make a move without consulting the Lord Mayor of The City. For here in the heart of London are grouped together Britain’s financial institutions dominated by the Rothschild-controlled Central Bank of England. The Rothschilds have traditionally chosen the Lord Mayor since 1820. Who is the present day Lord Mayor of The City? Only the Rothschilds’ know for sure…


(See Sources #5 Below )

Sources #1: Ariel Toaff, Bloody Passover-Jews of Europe and Ritual Homicide, 2007 Click Here; J. C. Cox, Norfolk Churches; Victoria County History of Norfolk, 1906; Arnold Leese, Jewish Ritual Murder In England; Henry III, Close Roll 16; Joseph Haydn, Dictionary of Dates.

Sources #2: Isaac Disraeli, Life of Charles I, 1851; Hugh Ross Williamson, Charles and Cromwell; AHM Ramsey, The Nameless War; Lord Alfred Douglas, Plain English, 1921; Geoffrey H. Smith, The Settlement Of Jews In England

Sources #3: John Harold Wood, History of Central Banking in Great Britain; Gustaaf Johannes Renier, William of Orange

Sources #4: Frederick Morton, The Rothschilds; Benjamin Disraeli, Coningsby

Sources #5: E.C. Knuth, The Empire of The City; Des Griffin, Descent Into Slavery

admin @ December 18, 2007

Tories demand answers over Lord Mandy's links with super-rich Russian oligarch

Daily Mail 15th October 2008

Questions are now being asked about Peter Mandelson's links with Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska

Peter Mandelson was at the centre of disturbing new questions last night over his relationship with one of the world's richest men.

The controversial Business Secretary faces calls to make a statement to the House of Lords to explain more about his friendship with Russian Oleg Deripaska.

Concerns over a 'potential conflict of interest' have arisen after two companies asked for Lord Mandelson's help following claims that one of Mr Deripaska's firms had cheated them over a $1billion (£575million) deal in Moscow.

The then European Trade Commissioner took up their case only for it to emerge that he had enjoyed hospitality aboard the 238ft yacht Queen K, owned by the very man who was the subject of the complaint.

The magnificent Queen K, with a crew of 21 including a cordon bleu chef, has cabins for 16 guests and has undergone an extensive refurbishment since the Russian bought it two years ago.

With six decks, of which the topmost is entirely reserved for Mr Deripaska, the vessel has a pool, a jacuzzi, sauna and gym.

The bathroom adjoining the master suite is clad in onyx, while the taps and fittings are gold. The spacious guest staterooms have marble bathrooms.

A link between the newly ennobled Baron Mandelson of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the County of Durham and 40-year-old Mr Deripaska is believed first to have been made by his friend Nat Rothschild, a financier who advises the Russian tycoon, and his father Lord Rothschild.

Floating palace: The Queen K super-yacht comes complete with gold-adorned bathrooms and luxury guest rooms, below

The Queen K is said to have been moored off the north-eastern coast of Corfu, where the Rothschilds have a home, when the then-commissioner was seen aboard.

When his presence on board was first reported, Lord Mandelson said he was merely attending a drinks party given by Mr Deripaska. He then said he had last seen Mr Deripaska at a dinner hosted by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch in Corfu.

It subsequently emerged he and other guests had been 'billeted' aboard the £80million yacht because Nat Rothschild had run out of room at his house in August.

Last night politicians in both London and Brussels were planning to table questions demanding that Lord Mandelson make a statement to clarify why he failed to explain the potential conflict of interest.

Peter Mandelson is being probed over 'conflicts of interest' with Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate

Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP for London, said: 'He should come clean as soon as possible because as long as these allegations are swirling around they are a distraction from the very serious matters in which he and the Government are involved.'

In addition, during his spell at the EU, Lord Mandelson twice acted to cut European import duties on aluminium from which Mr Deripaska's companies benefited by up to £50million a year, though there has been no suggestion he acted improperly.

The issue will raise fresh questions over Lord Mandelson's judgment after he twice previously resigned from Cabinet posts over problems caused by his relationships with the rich and famous.

He was forced to resign in 1998 after receiving a £373,000 interest-free loan from then Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson, and again in 2001 after allegations that he helped to obtain a British passport for Indian businessman Srichand Hinduja, although he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The deal in which Lord Mandelson was asked for help by businessmen in Italy and the Czech Republic has its roots in 2006 when a Russian tycoon made it known he was keen to sell 38.46 per cent of Ingosstrakh, Russia's second biggest insurance company, which is majority-owned by Mr Deripaska's company, Basic Element.

According to reports, the deal was worth $1billion and PPF Investments, a Czech company-went in with Generali, an Italian corporation, to purchase the minority shareholding. Approved by the Russian authorities, the deal was completed in December 2006.

Recent honours: Peter Mandelson is introduced to the House of Lords as Lord Mandelson, of Foy in Our of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in Our County of Durham

However, it is claimed, Mr Deripaska was unhappy. In October last year Ingosstrakh held a special meeting at which majority shareholders voted to reduce the stake held by the European companies to less than 10 per cent.

The furious Czechs and Italians allege that it was what they called a classic share dilution scam. They said they knew nothing of the meeting at which the shares had been reduced in value and insisted that they had been defrauded. Significantly, they point out, their claim was later upheld by a Moscow court.

But while they celebrated their victory, Mr Deripaska, a close ally of Russian's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, appealed to a Russian court, which has never been identified. It found in the billionaire's favour.

Crucially, the decision of this unidentified court cancelled the voting rights of the Europeans, thus in effect reversing the decision that they had been cheated in the share dilution.

Both PPF Investments, which is headed by self-made Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, and Generali decided to fight on and took their case to Lord Mandelson.

They were supported by a number of MEPs who claimed it was a clear case of discrimination against European investors.

It was against this charged background that executives from the European companies learned that Lord Mandelson had been a guest of Mr Deripaska aboard the Queen K.

And they have watched 'aghast' as more details of the Russian's hospitality towards the former commissioner have emerged. They believe, too, that Lord Mandelson has so far failed to give a full account of his contacts with Mr Deripaska.

Peter Mandelson with Foreign Secretary David Miliband outside Downing Street

A spokesman for Prague-based PPF Investments, Jan Piskacek, said last night : 'Naturally, we are surprised by this private meeting, and do not understand the circumstances under which it would have taken place - our previous communications with Mr Mandelson on this case have always been very useful and fair.'

According to a report in the Evening Standard, a 'close source' claimed that Lord Mandelson had previously spent a week aboard the Queen K and had stayed on another occasion. His partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva had also been a guest, the source suggested.

Last night Lord Mandelson's aides issued a statement which said: 'He was in Corfu to attend a birthday party for Rupert Murdoch's daughter. He does not see why more importance should be attached to Mr Deripaska than any other guest.

'He is entirely satisfied he has separated his private and public lives and will continue to do so.' His spokesman in Brussels said yesterday that the then European Trade Commissioner had raised the Ingosstrakh issue with the Russian trade minister and, on leaving his post, had left instructions that it was to be followed up. 'There is no conflict of interest,' he stressed.

However, questions over Lord Mandelson's judgment and friendship with Mr Deripaska, who is currently facing problems of his own, are certain to remain.

Known in Russia as the 'king of aluminium', he is said to have a ruthless business ethic and a knack for cultivating political contacts - he married into the family of Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president.

For some years he has struggled to distance himself from stories linked to his early business career. A friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, he built his £28billion empire in Russia in the 1990s when disputes could end in contract killings.

Russia's wealthiest oligarch is currently denied entry to the United States after the FBI asked the U.S. State Department to cancel his American visa in 2006.

Mr Deripaska is said to blame 'bureaucracy' but the Wall Street Journal reported the visa was revoked in July 2006 'after officials from the Department of Justice concluded that Mr Deripaska wasn't being candid with them about his past business dealings'.

Separately, the paper has also reported that he is being investigated by the British and American authorities over a £33million wire transfer last year amid suspicions that it involved money laundering or another crime.

Sir Philip Green weighs up £2billion bid to buy Iceland's troubled retail group Baugur, owners of Hamleys and House of Fraser

Daily Mail 12th October 2008

Sir Philip Green has flown to Iceland to discuss his possible investment in the beleaguered retail group Baugur.

The Icelandic firm has seen its assets frozen following the banking crisis which swept the Nordic country this week, with banks being nationalised in a bid to stop the financial system collapsing.

Baugur owns a host of famous British high street brands, including House of Fraser, Hamleys, Oasis, Karen Millen, Warehouse, Principles and the Iceland supermarket chain.

Retail king: If Sir Philip Green acquires a stake in Baugur, it would mean he has a huge influence over the British high street

Sir Philip is keen to acquire a big share in the group and could invest up to £2billion in the company, according to the Financial Times.

He flew into Reykjavik on Friday morning via private jet with Baugar chairman Jon Asgeir Johannesson, where he joined Gunnar Sigurdsson, chief executive of Baugur.

He told the FT he was prepared to buy all Baugar's debt held in the collapsed banks.

Sir Philip said: 'All the assets have been frozen. I don’t want any of these businesses to fall over, nor does Jon, nor does Gunnar.'

Representatives for Baugur insisted the whole group wasn't for sale, but Sir Philip stands to gain a powerful position in the company - and the British high street - if the deal goes through.

Sir Philip currently owns majority holdings in BHS, Etam and the Arcadia Group, which includes TopShop, Burton, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis.

In talks: Baugur chairman Jon Asgeir Johannesson flew Sir Philip Green to Reykjavik on Friday

Meanwhile, a Treasury delegation is spending the weekend in Iceland attempting to establish a claims procedure for British depositors to retrieve their savings from Icelandic banks.

Last night Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde said point-blank that his country could not afford to repay overseas investors in its collapsed banks.

The crisis sparked fury between London and Reykjavik, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown denouncing the 'totally unacceptable' failure of the Icelandic authorities to guarantee the money of UK depositors.

Haarde in turn blamed Britain for the collapse of his country's third largest bank, Kaupthing, after the Government used anti-terrorism laws to freeze Icelandic assets in the UK.

Mr Brown's spokesman said they hoped now to work 'constructively and co-operatively' with the Icelandic authorities.

However, he strongly defended the Government's action in freezing the Icelandic assets.

'We had found it very difficult to get information from [Iceland] whose authorities had indicated they would give preferential treatment to domestic creditors over overseas creditors.'

The Treasury has announced that all individual UK savers affected by the Icelandic bank crisis will be protected and it agreed late last night to extend the 100 per cent guarantee to small businesses.

High street brands: Baugur have stakes in a host of British store chains, including Hamleys, Karen Millen and House Of Fraser

Rampant Rabbi: Seven wives, eight children and one very happy 'messiah' - meet Britain's most unorthodox family

Daily Mail 8th October 2008

Philip Sharp emerges from his farmhouse kitted out in jodphurs, a thick red sweater and boots, and strides purposefully towards the stables to take his racehorses for their morning gallop.

Before arriving, I had not formed a clear impression in my mind of what a 'rampant rabbi' looks like, but the man in jodphurs before me  -  albeit one with a rascal-ish gleam in his eye  -  is definitely not it.

Nonetheless, this is the man himself, the man who has found infamy across the land for living with his 'harem' of seven 'wives' and their many children.

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Togetherness: From left, Judith, Tracey, Chava, Vreni, Philip, Margo, Hannah and Karyn

Perhaps 'harem' is a little misleading. The women concerned are not seductively lying about the farmhouse waiting for the return of their master from the gallop; they are out and about working hard on his farm. The rampant rabbi is nothing if not practical.

He does not go for a particular type of woman, rather, lots of different types.

Margo, a 39-year-old New Zealander, is already the mother of three of Philip's children, and is expecting her fourth any day now. She is a tall, fresh-faced outdoorsy sort who has spent the morning mucking out the horses and shows no sign whatsoever of fatigue.

Vreni is a 38-year-old Swiss national who is also pregnant and is expecting her second child by Philip in January.

Vreni is the first to admit her situation is not conventional. She is very tall and carries herself with a regal demeanour, but is friendly and engaging when you chat to her.

At 64, Chava is the eldest of the seven 'wives', a small, gentle widow who joined the wives a couple of years after her late husband died ten years ago.

She cheerfully admits having had issues with sex, specifically that her marriage to her late husband was not consummated, and says that Philip is her first lover.

Then there is Hannah, a 51-year-old former secondary school teacher from Austria.

Hannah is an elegant lady with a quiet but approachable manner whose family can't figure out what she's doing at Philip Sharp's farm.

Judith, a 50-year-old former marketing manager, was the first of the women to share Philip's life here, and at the outset, quite reasonably, expected it to stay that way.

Tracey is a 42-year-old from Hampshire who became a single mother after splitting from her 14-year-old son's father. She has a five-year-old child with Philip.

Sharp with his seven 'wives' and seven of his children

The youngest is Karyn, a 29-year-old former university student who is mother to three more of Philip's children. Her mother, Maureen, lives with Philip and the others, but is the exception to the rule in that she does not share Philip's bed.

All the women have changed their surnames by deed poll to Sharp and wear wedding bands. But there is no marriage ceremony when they become part of this extraordinary community: they are judged to have become Philip's 'wife' when their particular relationship is consummated.

The wives' personalities broadly fall into two categories: the 'softer' ones  -  Chava, Hannah, Karyn and Margo  -  and the 'harder' types  -  Tracey and Judith. Vreni falls somewhere in the middle.

There are eight children aged from five months to six years. And confusingly, Margo's three children are being raised by Judith, and call her 'Mummy', not Margo.

Philip also has five children, aged 13 to 22, from his first wife  -  the only one recognised as such by law  -  from whom he is estranged.

Two of his sons from that marriage also live with him, along with his eldest son's wife and their own two young children.

It is, you might say, an eclectic mix. But one big happy family? We shall see.

They all live together in a former oasthouse set in 27 acres of paddocks and fields near Battle in East Sussex.

They own about 40 horses, many of them thoroughbreds, as well as chickens, two black labradors and a few cats. Scattered about the farm are various outbuildings and barns.

Happily married: Sharp insists he would never have a mistress

It's a typical scene of pastoral life. And that's what's so odd about this place. It seems so normal that it's almost spooky.

Philip and his wives are followers of Messianic Judaism, which Philip explains is essentially being Jewish, but believing in Jesus Christ as the son of God.

Contrary to recent reports, Philip says he is not the reincarnation of an Old Testament king, but simply 'a king' specially selected by God.

Before we go into what part religion and kings have played in this tale, let us first address the nitty gritty of polygamy.

How does it work? Does Philip flit from bed to bed at night, creeping in and out of his wives' respective rooms? Are they allotted an equal share of their 'husband'? Who does he cuddle up to on the sofa when they're all watching telly?

'There is no system as such,' explains 48-year-old Philip.

'It's an evolving thing, it just happens. I might spend a week or so with one wife, then spend another week with another wife.'

He has his own little flat in one of the outbuildings, to which the favoured wife of the moment is 'invited' to share his bed.

When he feels it's time to give someone else a turn, he will tell the present incumbent so, in the nicest possible don't-take-it-personally kind of way.

Judith explains, 'Philip will say something like: "I think this should be our last night together." Obviously, you'd rather that wasn't the case, but you accept it as the way it is.'

You might say these couplings are mini-marriages, as opposed to lascivious wanderings from bed to bed.

According to Judith, however, the marriages are not entirely equal, and some wives are more favoured than others.

'We don't get an equal share of Philip, and there a couple of wives at the moment, not naming names, who don't get their share at all.'

But surely this must provoke jealousies among the women in the house?

'These are periods of what we call separation, and I have been through that situation myself. The relationships are not static, there is a constant ebb and flow.'

So who is the wife currently sharing Philip's bed? He's coy about it, but Judith tells me that Karyn is the lady of the moment, although Hannah later tells me that she was with him at the weekend.

Judith's quite matter of fact about it, but admits she has wrestled with terrible jealousy, especially at the beginning  -  as have all the other wives.

Sharp with Vreni and Margo

But you may not be surprised to learn that they keep their husband happy. Twenty-five years ago, the rampant rabbi, the son of a Jewish clothes manufacturer for C&A and his wife from Stanmore in Middlesex, was a well-known radio DJ called Phil Sharp.

'I was quite famous for a time,' he says. 'It was wine, women and song, and a bit of dope.

'But even though I'd achieved what I wanted, I felt increasingly depressed and I turned to God.'

In 1982 he married his first wife, Hadass, and five children followed. In the early Nineties he began to become involved in an American religious organisation called the Messianic Jewish Alliance.

In 1994 he was ordained as a rabbi by the organisation (a qualification which would not be recognised by traditional Jews) and began preaching in a number of synagogues.

'Jesus was Jewish, his disciples were Jewish, the people he healed were Jewish, yet the Church turned anti-semitic,' says Philip.

His marriage began to deteriorate, with increasing differences between the couple.

The fatal rupture occurred in 2000 when he decided he wanted to take his children out of State education.

'They were being taught sex education and about homosexuality and I wanted them out of there,' he says.

His wife objected and took him to court; the judge ordered him to send his children back to school. Philip refused and was sent to jail for two weeks for contempt of court, serving a week.

After this, he says, he couldn't go back to his wife. He doesn't want to go into why the marriage failed but does say his wife was 'rebellious' and would 'do things without communicating'.

He turned to Judith, his secretary at the synagogue, and asked her to 'share his life'.

She accepted and believed she was going to be the only wife.

'I had deep feelings for Philip, she says. 'He is good-looking and charismatic and has those superficial qualities, but it went much deeper than that. When I first heard Philip preach, it was like music to my ears, that's the only way I can put it.'

Judith wanted Philip for herself, and not unreasonably expected that that would be the case.

But an atmosphere of religious fervour was taking hold at Philip's synagogue in Hove, which was to lead eventually to his belief that he should take more wives.

'God was telling me I was a king. Not the Messiah, as has been suggested, but a Messiah. What God was showing me was that I would have a significant role in a Jewish revival, that a true nation of Israel would rise up and the world as we know it today was going to be severely judged.

'There would not be democracy, but kings throughout the world  -  humble, righteous kings.'

And Philip would be one of them. As well as bearing the responsibility of being a king, Philip was beginning to worry about the welfare of the women in his congregation.

'The Bible says God is the head of the man, and man is the head of the woman,' he says.

'And I was thinking: "I've got all these women in the congregation and none of them of them has a head." This had to be a true covenant, not just a Saturday morning get-together. God was telling me I was like a patriarch.'

And so from this Philip came up with the idea of making these women without heads his wives. He would be their head, their protector  -  their 'husband'.

He found passages in the Bible which seemed to give the all-clear. So was this the guiding hand of God, or a terrific scam by someone who wanted to have sex with lots of women?

'If I'm doing this in a prideful, devilish way, then it's awful what's going on,' says Philip.

'But it's not the case  -  I'm not that clever.'

He began to sound out his idea to women in the congregation. Some fled, but, remarkably, other women warmed to the idea, though not apparently the religious authorities.

He was later 'derobed' by the Messianic Jewish Alliance

It began in 2001. The first was a lady called Sue, who, having joined Philip and Judith, left after a couple of months, finding the arrangement not to her liking. But Sue was quickly followed by Tracey, Margo, Vreni, Hannah and then Karyn.

Judith was more than a little miffed at first. 'But I appealed to God to help me through it and He did,' she says. 'It wasn't that I accepted it, just that it was right and that it was right for me to stay.

'We all have our fears and hang-ups and there is a huge safety in our family, this environment allows you to be humble. Don't get me wrong, sex is important to all the wives, but this is not just about being married to Philip. It's a spiritual, Godly set-up.'

They settled into a house near Brighton before moving into the current place two years ago. Now, the women take it in turns to cook and help around the farm. Karyn works on Philip's haulage business. Philip concentrates on his horseracing and horse breeding.

We're a normal family,' says Philip. 'In the evenings we'll have dinner and watch TV, or we'll sometimes play Scrabble.' Sometimes they troop down to the garden centre in their mini bus.

When the women go out, they all wear hats, which is an arresting sight, but around the house they go bare-headed.

'It's been said I make them wear hats, that I make them do this and do that, but that's rubbish,' says Philip.

'And I don't keep them under lock and key or have a magic potion I give them. They're free to go if they choose.'

But they don't want to. The women are all civil and even friendly towards one another.

But if you scratch a little deeper than the cheery 'Kibbutz' type atmosphere, as Philip describes it, one wonders what's going on.

How can they bear to share the man they love with six other women? Has it become an unspoken contest between them to become Philip's favourite?

According to Hannah, having to confront their jealousy helps to remove it.

'I believe we are here to be delivered from jealousy,' she says. 'My sister has a husband and can be jealous. She is not challenged like we are.'

Margo says she has found jealousy hard to cope with, and admits that her relationship with Philip is not particularly brilliant at the moment.

'I was with Philip a couple of weeks ago but we're not really together because I'm thinking about the baby,' she says. 'Sometimes it's not right to be together.'

Margo has three children with Philip, but they are looked after primarily by Judith.

'With my children I couldn't give them the mothering they needed; I had various blocks which I'm overcoming,' she explains. 'Judith has been very supportive. But I want to bridge that gap and step into the role. My relationship with Judith is now much better than it has been.'

And what of Chava, whose real name is Dianne. 'I have always been very religious and that made me inhibited,' she says.

'My previous marriage was not consummated, which was my fault. I went to the doctor and she said not to worry, there were lots of people out there like me.'

Chava and her late husband, John, who was 30 years older than her, were regulars at Philip's synagogue, and Philip officiated at her husband's funeral.

'It was made out in the media that I'd got together straight away with Philip, but I loved John, and when I became Philip's wife two years later I was still grieving for him.'

Her life must by very different now. 'It's a complete turn-around,' she says, with some understatement.

'Philip is my first lover. I have been jealous in the past about other women, but I feel a new peace.'

Unfortunately, this has not been bestowed on Tracey, who admits she is 'cantankerous' and has already been thrown out of the 'family' three times by Philip, who says he 'kicked her out because she was bringing a lot of division'.

Tracey says: 'I have found it very hard and there have been times when I've wanted to walk away from it, but you have to go back to what's right.'

Vreni, the other pregnant wife, also admits there have been problems relating to their extraordinary domestic arrangement. She says her family have struggled to accept her situation.

'They do not understand it and we have agreed to disagree,' she says.

'My parents were afraid of what was happening, but I took Philip to visit them and when they met him they never doubted his sincerity.'

Karyn, the current favoured wife, had been living with a partner at university in Birmingham when her mother, Maureen, told her about Philip.

'I'd been struggling to make sense of my life and she said how he was helping her and suggested I come down to see them.

'She then told me about the wives, which was a bit of a shock, and the general consensus was that I was going to be a wife, too. When I met Philip I started to develop feelings for him and within three weeks we were married.

'I used to be an incredibly jealous person and it was a struggle at first, but somehow being in the family gave me a release from jealousy.'

Regardless of any divisions that might have grown up between the 'wives', Philip is happy to reassure them he would never be unfaithful to them. He wouldn't dream of taking a mistress.

'My wives know I am totally committed to each and every one of them,' says Philip.

'If I took a mistress it would cheapen what we have.'

While such pronouncements might make some people smirk with the whole delicious unintentional irony of it all, it must be said that every one of the wives says they do, indeed, feel that Philip's love is directed fully at each of them. How exhausting for him.

Having spent a day with the rampant rabbi and his seven wives, I still don't feel I have had a satisfactory answer as to why the women stay with Philip.

All I can be certain of is that they do, that they want to and they aren't going to walk away.

It's not from the ancient scriptures, but might the old adage 'treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen' go some way to explaining it?

 • A version of this article appears in this week's Closer, on sale now

One man, seven wives, eight children... And two more on the way. Is this Britain's most bizarre family?

Daily Mail 7th October 2008

You would think seven wives would be more than enough to keep a man busy.

But Philip Sharp has a little more on his plate than usual - two are pregnant at the same time.

Margo, 39, is due this month, while Vreni, 38, is scheduled to deliver in January.

Three's no crowd: Philip Sharp with pregnant wives Vreni (left) and Margo... Missing are five other wives and eight children...

Mr Sharp, a self-proclaimed rabbi, came to public attention two years ago thanks to his bizarre living arrangements.

God, he claimed, had told him he was a reincarnated Old Testament king. And so he lives like one, with a harem of devoted 'wives', none of whom he is legally married to.

Now the 'rampant rabbi', as he has been called, has eight children by four wives - on top of five by a previous and now estranged wife.

He is looking forward to the next two arrivals. 'I never use contraception and I don't let my wives take the Pill unless they really don't want kids,' he declared at his Sussex farmhouse.

'My three partners who haven't had children find it hard when the other women fall pregnant.

'I'm spending more time with Margo and Vreni as we prepare for the births.'

Margo was 25 and had never had a serious boyfriend when she met Mr Sharp at his 'synagogue' based in Hove.

Now about to give birth to her fourth child by him she said: 'I used to want a normal relationship with one husband, and was scared when I was first invited to marry Philip.

'But I thought about it, and heard God telling me I should.

'The first year was the hardest, and I was very jealous of the other wives. I told Philip - and he said I should learn how to share, and now I have.

'Now I feel blessed that my children call the other wives "Mummy", and I trust them completely with my kids.

Vreni, six months' pregnant with her second child with Mr Sharp, is originally from Switzerland.

The full feature appears in Closer magazine, on sale now

She was studying languages in England when she heard about his synagogue.

God, she claims, told her to join. 'At first I worried what my friends and family would think but I realised what God wanted was more important,' she said.

She added: 'I cannot wear makeup to appear attractive to anyone else other than Philip. I like to abide by the rules.'

And Mr Sharp, 48, certainly has a household full of rules.

His wives have to wear hats to shield their hair from other men, follow a rota for housework, and attend to his every whim.

They also have to help out in Mr Sharp's haulage business. And they have to be content not to have had a proper wedding - as he insists their marriages simply began when they first had sex.

In fact, the only woman he is legally married to is Hadass, 53 - an Israeli who left him nine years ago when he made clear he was planning to take on a whole host of new wives.

She has since claimed he began flirting with other women on their honeymoon in 1984, and that he would demand sex at all hours of day and night.

After she left, the congregation at Mr Sharp's 'biblical Judaism' synagogue dwindled and he was later excommunicated by the group.

He first 'married' his secretary Judith, 49, and within three years added Tracey, 41, Hannah, 50, Vreni, Margo, Chava, 64, and Karyn, 29, to his harem.

Karyn's mother Maureen also lives in the household and teaches the children in a converted barn next door. Currently the youngsters are aged between six months and nine years old.

Mr Sharp now only ministers to the faithful in his own family.

As no one claims benefits, the haulage business needs profits of £400 a week to pay grocery bills.

All the wives submit to his bedroom demands.

Mr Sharp said: 'There is no rota for sex. It depends on where I'm at with each wife emotionally and spiritually.

'I spend time with whoever I like, and it is often the wives I have more fun with that I want to be with. When they quarrel, I call a family meeting and the other wives act as a jury so we can resolve it.' ˜ The full feature appears in Closer magazine, on sale now.

Holocaust-denial law and the attempted extradition of a man for publishing antisemitic material

Daily Mail 6 October 2008

Later this week, a London magistrates' court will hear a bail application in an extradition case which should be ringing alarm bells.

A German-born Australian citizen, Fredrick Tˆben, was arrested as he passed through Heathrow by British police acting under an EU arrest warrant issued by the German authorities.

The Germans have accused him of publishing antisemitic Holocaust-denial material on his Australian website.

The train tracks at Birkenau.

There is no doubt that the views expressed by Tˆben, a notorious falsifier of history who was previously sentenced to nine months' jail in Germany for breaching its Holocaust- denial law, are vile. He says, for example, that there is no proof that Hitler systematically exterminated the Jews and that Auschwitz was merely a 'transit camp'.

As a Jew, I am acutely alive to the vicious potential of denying the Nazis' attempted extermination of the world's Jews. Such lies are used to whip up hatred against the Jewish people by effectively accusing them of fabricating claims of genocide. There is no question that this not only denies the historical evidence of Hitler's 'Final Solution', but also subjects Jews round the world to further hatred and persecution. Holocaust-denial is, indeed, a modern form of Jew-hatred.

But, through gritted teeth, I have to say that I am totally against the extradition of this man and appalled at the political and legal developments that have brought these moves about.

Holocaust Remembrance Day in Auschwitz, Germany. Millions of people including millions of Jews were killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during WWII.

There are two fundamental issues at stake here. First is the threat to the principle of freedom of speech. Second is the erosion of Britain's power to uphold its own historic commitment to that principle.

Freedom of speech is a bedrock of our society. Sure, it's not absolute; but we limit it only in the most rare of circumstances where it poses a direct threat to individuals, such as inciting or encouraging people to violence.

For similar reasons, we also outlaw incitement to racial hatred. But we draw a distinction, for example, between inciting hatred of people for what they inescapably are, which we rightly treat as a crime, and inciting hatred of their views, which we see as part of the cut and thrust of a liberal democratic society. That's why there was such uproar over the new crime of incitement to religious hatred.

A group of Jews are escorted from the Warsaw Ghetto by German soldiers.

It's because of this respect for debate that this country has never criminalised Holocaust-denial.

Odious as it is, it is an interpretation of history - and one which in any event defies easy categorisation.

True, it's an interpretation that used to stir up hatred against Jewish people. But once you argue that it should therefore be made a crime, there's no end to it.

After all, you could make exactly the same point that the current vilification of Israel and the denial that it is the victim of aggression in the Middle East has led to an upsurge in violence and prejudice against Jews worldwide.

Even more fundamentally, classic English literature is stuffed with anti- Jewish stereotypes and attitudes.

Prisoner held in a Nazi concentration camp.

But no one would suggest that expressing such opinions about Israel should therefore be made a crime, or that such literary classics should be censored.

In a free society, the proper antidote to the dissemination of lies is the expression of the truth. The arch Holocaust-denier David Irving was jailed for this crime in Austria. Did that expunge his poison? Of course not; if anything, it helped him pose as a martyr.

What was more effective was surely the destruction of his ideas in a British courtroom when he chose to bring a libel action - which rebounded against him by discrediting his claim to be a 'historian' and ending with his denunciation by the trial judge as a 'pro-Nazi polemicist'.

That is the British way of doing things. But what is so disturbing about the Tˆben case is that we may be forced to become accomplices to a view which is inimical to our own.

If Tˆben is extradited, this will mean that Britain will be treating as a criminal suspect someone who is accused of behaviour which is not regarded as a crime in this country.

That breaches an ancient principle of our law - which we so regrettably junked when we signed up to the European arrest warrant. Moreover, it is not just foreigners but British citizens who in theory can now be arrested in the UK and extradited to a country which accuses them of committing a crime there which is not treated as a crime here.

This is part of the attempt to create a 'corpus a European body of criminal law, which is in turn a key element of the EU vision of a unified super-state whose inhabitants all subscribe to the same principles.

But we do not. Both Germany and Austria have a very particular reason for criminalising Holocaust-denial. Given their appalling history, they are understandably terrified that it will help bring about a revival of Nazism.

They are entitled to reach such a conclusion and enshrine it in their own law. But equally, we should be entitled to say that we don't share this view. By signing up to the European arrest warrant, however, we have removed that most precious privilege.

Even if Tˆben is not extradited - and there is a view that the wording of the Extradition Act may provide him with a loophole - the EU arrest warrant remains a threat to our liberties.

A wax figure of Adolf Hitler is pictured in a mock bunker at the German 'Madame Tussauds' in Berlin.

Its scope is dangerously imprecise. Under its terms, people can be extradited to a country which accuses them merely of 'racism and xenophobia'. But these prejudices are notoriously difficult to define.

Indeed, those who object to the EU arrest warrant and the EU project itself as an attack on national sovereignty are themselves routinely accused of xenophobia.

David Irving was jailed for three years for a speech he made denying the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz.

It is surely not fanciful, therefore, to imagine an Orwellian scenario in which such people may themselves be extradited and prosecuted - for warning against the very abuse of power that may put them in the dock.

Holocaust-denial falls into the category of 'hate-crime' which has become such a fixation among Left-wingers and an article of faith within the EU. These zealots appear to believe that hatred and prejudice can be expunged from the human heart through the exercise of the law.

Like other utopian fantasies, however, far from ushering in a new era of tolerance and enlightenment, this creates the very illiberalism it purports to oppose.

More and more arrests and prosecutions are taking place against people who are deemed to offend against 'hate speech' - simply because they are preaching Christianity, denouncing immorality or even, in one consummately ironic case, scrawling on a wall 'Free speech for England'.

And all this against the background of the campaign by certain Muslims who seek to outlaw even the term 'Islamic terrorism' in order to shut down debate about that particular threat.

This sinister encroachment of hate crime into English law has little to do with preventing harm and more to do with an abuse of power. And the EU has put rocket fuel behind it.

It is this erosion of fundamental liberties and denial of national differences at the heart of the EU project which is behind the current alarming rise of neo-Nazi parties in countries such as Austria - which jailed David Irving for Holocaust-denial.

It is not bigots like Fredrick Tˆben who pose the biggest threat to our freedom, but the EU and its incendiary doctrine of nation-denial.

UK Lockdown point of view
Nice try Phillips pretending to care so much about our freedom of speech and the threat posed to our country by the EU, but if you were that interested in the welfare of our society why are you not helping people such as ourselves to expose the Jewish crime network who are behind the EU nation-denial agenda and countering the Zionist media who operate as the main regulators of non-free speech in Britain, we are onto you and know exactly what you are doing.
Phillips is part of the Jewish crime network playing the role of the patriotic Jew in order to dupe gullible citizens into believing she is on our side, don't be deceived by this trick, any Jew that does not denounce and condemn the action of the Jew crime network who are behind the Global agenda for one world government is part of the crime network and should not be trusted.

Arise, Lord Sleaze: Brown resurrects Peter Mandelson ... the disgraced Prince of Darkness

Daily Mail 04th October 2008

Peter Mandelson on Brown: 'We've had ups and downs but we get on fine'

Gordon Brown hauled Labour back to its worst days of sleaze after he brought Peter Mandelson back for a jaw-dropping third job in the Cabinet.

The return of the double-disgraced 'Prince of Darkness' in a reshuffle to address the economic crisis stunned and horrified Westminster.

The Prime Minister's claim that the return of Mr Mandelson - who will take a peerage to serve as Business Secretary in the Lords - was 'in the national interest' was met with incredulity.

Asked at 10 Downing Street this morning what he felt Mr Mandelson would bring to his Government, Mr Brown replied: 'I think the national interest comes before any party politics and any personality politics, and I think today we see a Labour Government which is determined to work with business and to work with the rest of the community to deal with the real challenges that we face as a result of these global changes.

'I think you see us putting a Government together that is capable of bringing all the expertise from the business sector as well as from the area of Government and from the European Union to enable us to take people fairly through these difficult times, to stabilise the financial system and to move on, with Britain leading the rest of the world out of these difficulties.'

It capped an extraordinary day in which Mr Brown appeared to have put his future in the hands of his biggest enemy in politics with a striking reordering of his team that marked a victory for Tony Blair and his allies.

He gambled on Mr Mandelson's strong business credentials and keen political instincts to bring some firepower to his weakened government.

And familiar faces such as Margaret Beckett were recalled in an 'all hands to the pumps' effort to stem the Tory tide and avoid a General Election wipeout.

A poll in the Telegraph showed that some voters are starting to return to Labour amid the global financial crisis.

The poll puts the Tories on 45 per cent, up a point from two weeks ago before the annual party conferences.

Labour is on 31 per cent, up form 24 per cent and the Lib Dems are on 15 per cent down from 20 per cent.

Despite Labour's rise in support, the Tories' lead would still be enough to give them a majority at a general election.

Third coming: Peter Mandelson back outside Number 10 today after being invited to become Business Secretary

The reshuffle featured the return of another Government figure linked to sleaze in the past

Lord Drayson, who returns as Science Minister from a year off racing motor cars, ran into controversy in 2002 after his Powderject company was granted a £32million contract to provide flu vaccines just months after he made a £50,000 donation to Labour.

And the appointment of new City Minister Paul Myners raised eyebrows. He is a director of GLG, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world, which has the largest short position in Bradford&Bingley, having sold short tens of millions of shares in the troubled bank.

To underscore a sense of national emergency, Mr Brown announced the creation of a 'War Cabinet' for the economy.

The National Economic Council, chaired by Mr Brown and including Mr Mandelson, will meet twice weekly in Downing Street's emergency command room.

Mr Mandelson had been Trade Secretary for barely six months when in December 1998 he was forced to quit over a secret loan of £373,000 from his ministerial colleague Geoffrey Robinson.

The money was used to buy an expensive house in Notting Hill and Mr Mandelson was compromised because his department -Trade and Industry - was investigating Mr Robinson's business dealings.

Tony Blair brought him back in October 1999, as Northern Ireland Secretary, but he was forced to quit a second time in January 2001.

This time it was alleged he had intervened in a passport application for Dome supporters, the Hinduja brothers. Inquiries later cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Mr Blair then appointed him EU Trade Commissioner in Brussels. Yesterday he quit that job.

With two Cabinet resignations already under his belt, Mr Mandelson joked that this would be 'third time lucky', but there were doubts over his ability to work with Mr Brown.

Comeback kid: Peter Mandelson with Gordon Brown in 1998 when he was made Trade Secretary by Tony Blair. The pair have been sworn enemies for years

While both men said they had set aside their past differences, behind the scenes it is known that Labour's most notorious spinner has been brutally candid about the Prime Minister's failings.

Challenged over his fractious relationship with Mr Brown, Mr Mandelson admitted the pair had had their 'ups and downs' and added: 'We have also known each other for over 20 years and originally we worked very well together and I am very proud to have been invited to serve in his Government.

'I get on with him fine. He is doing an exceptionally good job in what are very, very challenging conditions for our country.'

Mr Brown ignored questions about Mr Mandelson's past and praised his deadly rival's 'brilliant' work in Brussels.

Asked how he could answer the charge that he had taken leave of his senses in giving such a divisive figure a Cabinet post, Mr Brown said: 'What I have decided is what I believe is in the national interest.'

In: John Hutton is moving to the Ministry of Defence. Out: Des Browne refused to move and is leaving the Government

Mr Mandelson has taken an enormous pay cut to return to Government.

During his stint aboard the Brussels gravy train, he has raked in a salary, pension and perks which dwarf his £138,000 a year as a Cabinet Minister. It is believed he will return to his home in fashionable Primrose Hill, North London.

Debilitated by a torrent of attacks on his leadership, Mr Brown yesterday made no attempt to shift any of the Cabinet heavyweights in the top jobs who are close to Mr Blair and who have been jockeying to succeed him.

Instead he carried out a reordering of the lower ranks which saw only Des Browne and Ruth Kelly leave the Government for the back benches. Miss Kelly confirmed that she is standing down as MP for Bolton West at the next election.

Some brutal horse-trading forced Mr Brown to remove his most trusted media adviser, but in exchange he has brought his most loyal Commons lieutenant into the Cabinet.

In: Chief Whip Geoff Hoon is taking over at Transport. Out: Ruth Kelly leaves after resigning. She is also stepping down as an MP

Damian McBride agreed to stand aside as the Prime Minister's political spokesman inside Downing Street after senior ministers demanded his removal. In return, the Prime Minister gets Nick Brown back in the Cabinet as Chief Whip.

Ed Miliband, buoyed by a strong performance at Labour conference last week, is promoted to lead a new Energy and Climate Change department which was hailed by green campaigners as a major step forward in the fight against global warming.

Last night Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said the reshuffle demonstrated a 'stunning failure of judgment by Gordon Brown'.

He said: 'In bringing back Peter Mandelson - the man who created Labour spin - he has broken his promise to govern in an honest and open way.'

But former Cabinet minister David Blunkett described the appointment as a 'masterstroke'.

And John Cridland of the CBI added: 'The Department for Business must have a heavyweight political big hitter at the Cabinet table, and we are encouraged that Peter Mandelson is returning to this role.'

The devoted lieutenant

The last time Nick Brown was Chief Whip, he was effectively sacked for causing Peter Mandelson's first Cabinet resignation.

After little more than a year in the job following Labour's 1997 election victory, Tony Blair demoted him to the backwater of the Ministry of Agriculture.

It followed the exposure of Mr Mandelson's secret home loan which triggered the downfall of Mr Blair's ally. Many blamed Mr Brown as the source of the story.

Nick Brown: A loyal fan of Gordon Brown

Nick Brown's pleasant demeanour belies a quiet inner menace which will be crucial in his return to the role of corralling rebellious Labour MPs.

He is a fiercely tribal politician who was a key mover in crowning Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.

He is devoted to his namesake and is widely regarded in Westminster as the PM's chief lieutenant.

Nick Brown canvassed support for Mr Brown's 1994 leadership bid and has claimed that Tony Blair 'stole' the job from him.

Why McPoison had to go

His enemies call him McPoison. His friends refer to him as Mad Dog. Damian McBride's departure yesterday as Gordon Brown's chief spin doctor was a vital component in the reshuffle.

Since 2003, the former civil servant has been far more than a spokesman for Mr Brown. He has been a key player both in government and the Labour Party.

Damian McBride: Brown's spin doctor has gone, much to the relief of his enemies

The 34-year-old Cambridge graduate gave up a career at the Treasury to become Mr Brown's political adviser.

But he was blamed by ministers for a run of stories said to have damaged the Government, and accused of running a vicious campaign against Mr Brown's enemies. Ministers demanded his removal.

Mr McBride knew the oldest rule in politics, that when a spin doctor becomes the story, he is no longer useful to his master, and asked for a move.

Mr Brown reluctantly agreed to let him step aside, and so finds himself deprived of the services of one of his most effective operators.