Events | 2009.12.17
Hugh Muir's diary
He lost the battle but could he win the war? Who\'ll dare dish the dirt on Dirty Des?
• Richard Desmond, purveyor of exotica and publisher of the "World\'s Greatest Newspaper", versus Tom Bower, biographer of the rich and notorious, was by any standards a titanic battle. Bower\'s book on Conrad Black said Desmond (pictured) had been " ground into the dust " by the former Telegraph baron. Desmond sued. Desmond lost. The sense of national grief was something to behold. If Desmond was irritated then, he\'ll be feeling better now for we learn that in the aftermath, the fearless Bower is encountering real difficulty in having Rogue Trader – his book on Desmond himself, published. Usually HarperCollins stands firm in the heat of battle, but in this case the publisher appears to be having second thoughts. Problem one is that most newspapers are reluctant to cross Dirty Des, and this would probably starve the book of the publicity necessary to make it successful. Problem two is that the publishing business is in the doldrums. But problem three is the fear that Desmond will sue again on some other basis, incurring massive legal fees – irrespective of whether it goes to court – and swelling the amount HarperC pays in insurance. Typically, Bower is not finished in his pursuit of Desmond. Perhaps someone else will publish what he describes as the "most devastating story of a businessman I have ever written". But this is Dirty Des\'s day, and he will be enjoying it. Which is, by any measure, a bit of a shame.
• It\'s a hard life for Andrew Neil, and after a taxing week at his various offices, he lived up to his reputation as a bon viveur by entertaining five young ladies in The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz last Friday. The champagne flowed, as did the anecdotes; but something seemed not quite right, and as he picked up the cheque and hurried away, the problem became apparent. "I bet he doesn\'t make his flight to Dubai. It\'s at 9pm," said one of the assembled. That was 7pm. So many distractions, so little time.
• Still no word on what Tony Blair is up to with his internet domain connected to climate change; but wherever he goes, people talk about him. People talk about him even when he is not there. Acclaimed film-maker Emir Kusturica, a Unicef national ambassador for Serbia, is talking about Britain\'s hyperactive former PM amid the jollity of the Marrakech International Film Festival. "This guy is a war criminal if you calculate how many Iraqis have been killed," he tells us. "When we see Blair with all this dynamism giving speeches to people, you think what the fuck can he say to anyone. He is part of the shame of western civilisation." For all that, they really like him in Sedgefield and Sierra Leone.
• One of Tony main\'s tasks, of course, as the bringer of peace to the Middle East, is to get the Arabs and the Israelis to talk to each other. But how to do it? The Economist tells that a connection was forged between Israeli and Syrian negotiators when the two sides were served hummus by their American hosts and both denounced it as awful. Zalman Shoval, former Israeli ambassador to the US, recalls a similar occurrence when he had initially frosty talks with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. "The habitual American coffee cart was wheeled in," and after both sides had "tasted the unappetising brew that goes for coffee in America, I remarked: \'Don\'t you think that this coffee is terrible?\'" The Jordanians agreed, and "from that moment talks started, culminating eventually in the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty". If the discussions were held in McDonald\'s Marble Arch, we might solve the entire thing.
• Finally, signs that those disaffected with the established church may soon have a leader. On Wednesday, Lord St John of Fawsley, who is known as The Bishop but isn\'t one, raised eyebrows by sitting on the bishops\' bench in the House of Lords. "I\'m starting a new order," he declared, when the error was pointed out to him by worried Conservatives. Let the record show that the Church of St John Fawsley started here.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/[...]gh-muirs-diary-richard-desmond
