Has the Daily Star turned its back on the English Defence League?

The red-top pledges to oppose "extremism and fanaticism no matter what quarter it comes from".

The Daily Star's flirtation with extremist right-wing, if not right-wing, politics appears to be over. Last month Richard Desmond's flagship red-top raised concerns it was preparing to formally endorse the English Defence League after publishing an editorial entitled "Don't Dare Ignore The EDL" with accompanying splash "English Defence League To Become A Political Party".

Fortunately it now appears Star editor Dawn Neesom, described in her Wikipedia biography as a staunch West Ham fan and avid kick boxer, has experienced a conversion on the road to Luton, and will be adopting a more circumspect approach to the group who have been bringing booze fuelled chaos to Britain's multi-ethnic communities. A letter from Daily Star publishers Northern and Shell, to Nick Lowles, editor of anti-extremist magazine Searchlight, pledges, "Our stand has always been and always will be that of strongly opposing extremism and fanaticism no matter what quarter it comes from, whether it be burning Poppies or copies of the Koran". It goes on, ""We assure Searchlight that the Daily Star will continue to endeavour to be a fair and accurate newspaper serving a true United Kingdom and all its people".

An editorial response from Lowles, who has been campaigning for the Star to distance itself from the EDL, expresses his belief that "the newspaper will not be backing the street gang or any other extremist organization". He adds, "We welcome this statement and what we understand to be a change in direction. We will remain vigilant to keep the newspaper to its word".

Despite a perception the Daily Star was morphing into the house magazine of the far right, the truth is the Star stable has adopted a more ambiguous stance to both the EDL and their floundering forerunners in the BNP. The Sunday edition of the paper has run a number of hard hitting exposes of both organizations, and was highly critical of the Prime Minister's recent Munich speech on multiculturalism. Under the headline "David Cameron Boards the EDL Bandwagon" the paper charged "Bungling David Cameron was last night accused of "stoking the fires" of race hate just hours before a thuggish far right march".

There have also been indications Richard Desmond has himself been concerned about his Daily's courting of the EDL. Guardian media commentator Roy Greenslade, who was heavily critical of the Star's favourable editorial, quoted a spokesman for Desmond insisting the proprietor had no prior knowledge of the paper's stance. The Independent also agreed to change its online headline "Has Richard Desmond decided to back the English Defence League?", to, "Has the Daily Star decided to back the English Defence league?" following a request for a correction from Desmond

The Star's decision to break from its balaclava clad suitors comes at a time when the paper has been facing internal as well as external scrutiny over its reporting of ethnic minorities, especially the Muslim community. Whistle blower/disgruntled former employee Richard Peppiatt claimed in a resignation letter to Daily Star management Islamaphobia had become a key weapon in the paper's fight for circulation; "Muslims are branded "beardies" or "fanatics", and black-on-black killings ("Bob-slayings", as I've cringingly heard them called in your newsroom) can be resigned to a handful of words, shoehorned beneath a garish advert". In response, the Daily Star issued a statement which claimed, "Regarding the allegations over the paper's coverage of Islam, he, [Peppiatt], was only ever involved in a very minor way with such articles, and never voiced either privately or officially any disquiet over the tone of the coverage. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."

Whatever the truth of the Peppiatt allegations, the withdrawal, or non-extension, of the Daily Star's support will be a seen as a blow to the EDL at a time when the organization is struggling to manage internal tensions over its future direction. Alan Lake, the EDL's shadowy millionaire financier, is keen to channel his progeny towards the political mainstream, and has been attempting to build connections with the European and international right, including fringe elements of the US Tea Party movement. In contrast Tommy Robinson, the EDL's self-styled 'General' is said to want to remain true to the movement's 'grass roots' strategy of street level demonstrations and confrontation, even though effective policing and community organization are reducing the opportunities for disorder so beloved by many of its members.

The 'tit's, bums, QPR and roll your own fags' agenda pursued by the Daily Star's inaugural editor Derek Jameson is not to everyone's taste. But the capture of a national newspaper endorsement, form whatever source, would have been an important feather in the hoodies of the EDL. Dawn Neesom and Richard Desmond's change of heart, however belated, is to be welcomed.

Say oooh, ah, Daily Star...

New Statesman

Daily Star reporter quits in protest at tabloid's 'anti-Muslim' coverage

The Daily Star has been accused of printing fictional stories by a disgruntled reporter who has resigned over its "hatemongering" anti-Muslim propaganda.

In a resignation letter, Richard Peppiatt said he was leaving after the Star gave sympathetic coverage to the far-right English Defence League last month.

Peppiatt admits producing a number of fictional stories about celebrities during his two years at the tabloid, a practice he implies was sanctioned by his seniors.

The reporter, who was once made to dress up in a burqa, now accuses the paper of inciting racial tensions and Islamaphobia. "You may have heard the phrase 'the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas'," Peppiatt wrote to the proprietor, Richard Desmond, in a letter seen by the Guardian.

"Well, try this: 'The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke's head caved-in down an alley in Bradford.' If you can't see that words matter, you should go back to running porn magazines."

Desmond's media empire has included pornographic magazines and adult TV channels as well as Express newspapers, Channel 5 and celebrity magazines. Desmond has said he was not consulted before the decision to publish the front-page story and editorial about the EDL.

Peppiatt tells him in his letter: "The weight of your ownership rests heavy on the shoulders of everyone, from the editor to the bloke who empties the bins."

Peppiatt, who handed in his resignation this week, said the "incendiary" suggestion the EDL was planning to field election candidates was known to be an exaggeration. "But further up the newsprint chain it appears a story, too good to allow the mere spectre of reality to restrain, was spotted," he wrote.

The EDL story is one of a number of prominent articles published by the Star that Peppiatt claims were made up, including some of his own. The reporter was recently involved in stories claiming Rochdale council had spent taxypayers' money on "Muslim-only squat-hole loos". In fact, the toilets were neither paid for by the local authority or "Muslim-only".

"I was tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our post-modern victory in 'blocking' the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil," Peppiatt wrote. The Press Complaints Commission later ruled the story was inaccurate and misleading.

The reporter also quotes Kelly Brook, who recently complained about the number of fabricated stories she reads about herself on the internet. She said: "There was a story that I'd seen a hypnotherapist to help me cut down on the time I take to get ready to go out. Where do they [journalists] get it from?"

Peppiatt wrote: "Maybe I should answer that one. I made it up. Not that it was my choice: I was told to." He said he had "plucked" the story about Brook's experimentation with hypnotherapy from his imagination, adding: "Not that it was all bad. I pocketed a £150 bonus."

In a list of "my other earth-shattering exclusives" for the Star, Peppiatt recalls producing articles about Michael Jackson, the pop star Robbie Williams and Katie Price which he said had no factual basis.

He also admits making up a story suggesting that Matt Lucas was on suicide watch following the death of the comedian's former civil partner. Lucas won substantial damages in court. Peppiatt criticises the Star's editorial judgment in his letter, accusing it of hypocrisy, and "arranging the day's news based on the size of the subjects' breasts".

He adds: "On the awe-inspiring day millions took to the streets of Egypt to demand freedom, your paper splashed on: JORDAN … THE MOVIE. A snub to history? Certainly," he writes. "An affront to Journalism? Most definitely."

As a young reporter desperate to make his name in Fleet Street, Peppiatt concedes he took to his commissions "with gusto", but now questions the ethics of what he was required to do, suggesting he was at times promoting an anti-Muslim agenda.

"On order I dressed up as John Lennon, a vampire, a Mexican, Noel Gallagher, St George (twice), Santa Claus, Aleksandr the Meerkat, the Stig, a transvestite, Alex Reid. When I was ordered to wear a burqa in public for the day, I asked: 'Just a head scarf or full veil?' Even after being ambushed by anti-terror cops when panicked Londoners reported 'a bloke pretending to be a Muslim woman', I didn't complain.

"Mercifully, I'd discovered some backbone by the time I was told to find some burqa-clad shoppers (spot the trend?) to pose with for a picture [with me] dressed in just a pair of skin-tight M&S underpants."

Peppiatt's letter concludes by criticising Desmond for not providing greater resources. "When you assign budgets thinner than your employee-issue loo roll there's little option but for Daily Star editors to build a newspaper from cut-and-paste jobs off the Daily Mail website, all tied together with gormless press releases.

"But when that cheap-and-cheerful journalism gives the oxygen of publicity to corrosive groups like the EDL ... it's time to lay down my pen."

The Daily Star rejected Peppiatt's claims, implying he may hold a grudge against his employer after being "passed over" for several staff positions. It said: "Regarding the paper's coverage of Islam, he never voiced any disquiet over the tone. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."[Peppiatt] refers to a Kelly Brook story – in fact he approached and offered the newspaper that story, vouched for its accuracy, and then asked for and received an extra freelance fee for doing so," the statement said.

The Star also claimed that Peppiatt had been warned by senior reporters after suggesting he would make up quotes.

The Guardian

You can read the resignation letter here

Is it the end of the bad old days for the Daily Express and Daily Star?

With increasing cross-promotion within his group, Richard Desmond can no longer pander solely to little Englanders.

Richard Desmond's empire is a curious thing: on the one hand you have newspapers that worry about immigration and have strayed into toxic territory by giving positive coverage to the English Defence League; on the other, you have magazines like OK!, so fluffy and inoffensive that turning the pages is like being pelted with Care Bears.

Perhaps it's with one eye on detoxifying his newspaper brands that Desmond has branched out with the Health Lottery, a fundraising enterprise which aims to give £50million a year to health charities. With 20.5p per £1 ticket going to those charities (compared with 28p per £1 for the National Lottery), the scheme will have to sell 243million units a year to hit that goal - but with so many promotional outlets available to market the new game, don't write it off. We'll be seeing the Health Lottery on Channel 5, and reading about it in the Express, the Star and OK! Magazine - something to look forward to for us all, there.

Described as "an exciting new lottery" by the Daily Express and as "Northern and Shell's exciting new brand" by Channel 5's Kate Walsh at the press conference, the Health Lottery is a laudable venture. Even those of us who aren't Desmond's biggest fans should wish it well - not just because of the charity element but because, perhaps, it marks a turning point for his newspapers.

With such a generous venture in the pipeline, Desmond moved to distance his publications from the EDL - and the Daily Staron Sunday at the weekend even took a potshot at the little Englanders, showing a "chilling photo" of EDLers with guns (or replica guns) in their hands, highlighting racist chants and mentioning a "sick Nazi salute". Getting readers by confirming people's prejudices about immigration is one thing; seeming to give tacit support to a polarising organisation like the EDL is quite another.

The closer Desmond brings his brands together - and the cross-promotion shows no sign of letting up right now - the less spiky the likes of the Star and Express will have to become. That might erode a little of the character of the newspapers, but it might chip away at their nastier side, too. Headlines like BBC PUTS MUSLIMS BEFORE YOU or THEY'VE STOLEN ALL OUR JOBS don't sit nicely alongside the cheerful, breezy tone of OK! magazine or the mass appeal of Channel 5's shows like Home and Away.

Pandering to little Englanders every now and again might have done a good job in retaining a few hardcore readers for the Express and the Star, but that kind of tactic might become a hindrance when you're trying to make those readers hop over to OK, or get OK readers to hop over to the Express, or Channel 5 viewers to buy your newspapers as well.

Here's wishing the Health Lottery well, then. It could raise a lot of money for charity, and it could mark the end of the bad old days for the Express and the Star. It may seem unlikely, but I'll take a gamble...

New Statesman