STEPHEN GLOVER: The Telegraph was my first newspaper and it holds a special place in my heart. I find it hard to believe that it could fall into the hands of a foreign autocrat

The Daily Telegraph has long had a special place in my heart. It was the first newspaper I worked for as a green and inexperienced young journalist. I was lucky to get the job.

When I arrived in 1978, Bill Deedes was the editor of the paper. He was a former Tory MP and minister who famously served as the model for William Boot – also an inexperienced journalist – in Evelyn Waugh’s hilarious pre-war novel Scoop.

The newspaper’s owner was Michael Berry, Lord Hartwell, second son of Lord Camrose, who had bought the Telegraph in 1928. Michael Berry was shy, reserved, hardworking and patriotic. I remember him above all as a man of righteousness.

He also did not spoil his editors and journalists. Bill Deedes could occasionally be seen waiting in Fleet Street at night for a bus to take him to Waterloo Station and back home to Kent.

What would either of these men, both of whom had served with distinction in the war, have said about the news that an investment fund largely backed by a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family is about to close The Telegraph, its Sunday Sister and The Spectator magazine?

They would have been stunned. Bill, one of nature’s pessimists, would probably have seen this as further evidence of Britain’s inexorable decline. Michael Berry would have been stunned if his beloved newspaper was about to fall into the hands of a member of a foreign autocratic regime.

A lot has changed in our country since I first stepped onto Fleet Street, but even I am surprised that this should happen. How is it possible? Can this be stopped – as I doubt it will be in most European countries?

The Daily Telegraph and the other publications come into play because Lloyds Banking Group took control of them in June. Their owners, the Barclay family, owe Lloyds just over £1.1 billion and have been unable to pay off their debts.

Lloyds announced an auction and several companies or individuals threw their hats into the ring. It is not often that a major newspaper is offered for sale. And De Telegraaf is a successful and profitable title.

At the eleventh hour, with the auction already underway, the Barclays appear to have struck a deal with a fund called Redbird IMI, which is backed by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family – namely Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan , the deputy of the emirate. Prime Minister. If the deal goes through, it would be financially beneficial for cash-strapped Barclays.

If the auction does take place, I must emphasize that potential bidders include the Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns this newspaper. It is true that DMGT has held talks, which have already been halted, with potential minority investors in the Middle East. But it was never suggested that such investors would have even the slightest editorial influence over the Telegraph titles in the event that DMGT acquired them.

The Daily Telegraph has long had a special place in my heart. It was the first newspaper I worked for, as a green and inexperienced young journalist, writes STEPHEN GLOVER

This article was not written in the spirit of sour grapes. I wouldn’t mind if one of the many respectable companies bought the Telegraph. I am motivated by an abiding affection for my old newspaper, but also by a strong belief that no major British publication should be controlled by the Deputy Prime Minister of a foreign power that is a virtual dictatorship.

Redbird IMI is a joint venture between Redbird Capital from the US and International Media Investments from Abu Dhabi. It is of course a great pains to emphasize that only Redbird Capital will run the Telegraph in a completely independent manner. Anyone who believes such guarantees is deluded. Ultimately, the person who pays the piper decides the tune.

No doubt, most of the time, the charming but ruthless people who run Abu Dhabi will show very little interest in the editorial content of the publications that one of their own has acquired. But we can be sure that there are some opinions that the rulers of the emirate would like to suppress.

Abu Dhabi is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has a terrible human rights record. It ranks 145th in the 2023 International Press Freedom Index compiled by the group Reporters Without Borders. That is a few places lower than beacons of freedom such as Somalia, a failed state, and Uzbekistan, where two prisoners were reportedly boiled alive in 2002.

According to Human Rights Watch, the UAE has arrested a number of critics, including activists and academics, while Emirati laws discriminate against women, migrants and gays. Journalists are also not universally popular.

In 2017, Abu Dhabi security forces arrested two Swiss journalists working for their country’s public broadcaster. They were held for more than 50 hours because they could not communicate with the outside world. The broadcaster claims its journalists were interrogated and blindfolded for up to nine hours at a time as they were moved between locations. Their camera, computers and hard drives were confiscated.

When Stephen Glover arrived in 1978, Bill Deedes was the paper’s editor (pictured). He was a former Tory MP and government minister

We should hardly be surprised by such events in a state whose official media legislation includes the following ban: “The person of the President of the Republic or the rulers of the Emirates may not be criticized.”

It further warns journalists: “Any material that incites and is harmful to Islam, or the system of government in the country, or harms the interests of the country or the basic systems on which society is based, will be prohibited.”

Do we really want a regime that enacts such draconian, anti-democratic laws to be within a hundred miles of a British newspaper? Of course not. The prospect is alarming.

I don’t believe that any journalist writing sympathetically about Israel for the Telegraph can be confident that their ultimate masters in Abu Dhabi would not object. Although the UAE is less hostile to Israel than some Middle Eastern states, it has sharply criticized the country.

Football writers must also tread carefully. Manchester City is another British institution controlled by Sheikh Mansour. The Premier League champions are facing an official investigation for breaching financial rules and could face serious penalties, including relegation.

If the Daily Telegraph were under Abu Dhabi’s rule, would readers of the Daily Telegraph be able to rely on balanced and measured reporting on developments that could blow a hole in Sheikh Mansour’s finances? I do not believe it. Even the remote prospect of censorship is unconscionable.

The Daily Telegraph and the other publications come into play as Lloyds Banking Group took control of them in June (File Photo)

Granted, there are already two foreign media owners in Britain, but neither professes anti-democratic views. Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian-born owner of the Independent and London Evening Standard, has criticized Putin’s regime. Rupert Murdoch, originally from Australia, has always been in favor of a free press.

As current owner of the Telegraph titles, Lloyds Bank Group could block a deal between Barclays and Sheikh Mansour-backed Redbird IMI. However, banks tend not to be too concerned with the public interest. It is up to the government to do that.

Ministers have the power to scrutinize the proposed deal, either under national security legislation or by referring the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority under a so-called Public Interest Intervention Notice. This is what they have to do. Such announcements have been made several times in recent years.

We have given away much of our country to foreign ownership: major British companies, famous hotels and shops, even national monuments. Please let’s draw a line with the Daily Telegraph. Make sure Michael Berry’s newspaper doesn’t fall into the hands of foreign autocrats.