Diary
by Matthew
Norman
THE "always darkest before the
dawn" theory appears to be holding
good for David Irving. Four
days after the Sunday
Telegraph reported
that the bankrupt historian's
£750,000 Mayfair flat has been
repossessed to pay some of his libel
costs, we now hear of a white knight
riding to his rescue. A wealthy
young friend, Matthew Gordon
Lennox, has bid for the flat,
and intends to lease it back to him
(need we use the word
peppercorn?).
He's also paid £35,000 to
Peter Laskey, Irving's
solicitor. "I make it a policy not
to talk to the Guardian, your
treatment of both Neil and
Christine Hamilton and
Jonathan Aitken was without
justification" is Matthew's emailed
reply to our enquiry, but he soon
adds this (abridged) statement:
"David Irving is a personal
friend, and it is my intention to do
all in my power to help him and his
family ... I believe that David has
been the victim of a merciless
campaign and intend to ensure that
he is in a position to fight not
just for himself and his family but
for all of us who are opposed to the
enemies of free speech and the right
to question."
Friday June
21, ·2002
ATTEMPTS to build bridges with
Matthew Gordon Lennox, the
Guardian-hating lad of 22
trying to buy David Irving's
Mayfair flat to lease it back to the
bankrupt historian at a low rent,
begin shakily. "You do nothing to
improve my opinion of the
Guardian," he wrote in reply
to Marina Hyde's latest
email, before confessing to settling
part of his legal bill and to being
a venture capitalist.
You can see why he took offence.
"Apologies for continuing to plague
you," Marina wrote. "Could we just
confirm that you have paid a chunk
of the legal fees Mr Irving owes to
Peter Laskey? The figure we
have been quoted is £35,000.
Also, how would you wish to be
described in print, in professional
terms?" This kind of aggressive
harassment is not acceptable, and I
have warned Marina that I may have
to refer the matter to the Office of
the Readers' Editor.
Tuesday June 25,
·2002
A SHADOW hovers over the
[Guardian] Diary
Summer Party, which networking queen
Carole Stone plans to host at
her Covent Garden salon. A reader
rings to say she once attended a
Stone soiree and was horrified to
find David Irving at the
party. It was just after he'd lost
his Holocaust denier case with
Deborah Lipstadt, and our
source recalls that alerting the
rest of the gathering reminded her
of the man running along the street
after Laurence Olivier in
Marathon Man shouting "Der Weisse
Engel!".
In her recent Book of the Month,
Carole mentions the incident. "Lots
of my Jewish friends ... were
outraged," recalls Carole, "but
again no one made a scene and
several of my guests seized the
opportunity to tackle him about his
ideas... Many's the time I have
unwittingly invited people who were
not on speaking terms to a party
where quarrels have been resolved
and friendships repaired."
Isn't that enchanting? Whether Mr
Irving will be invited to this one
is something we'll have to thrash
out with Carole.
[…]· Returning briefly to David
Irving, our bridge-building
initiative with Matthew Gordon
Lennox, the
Guardian-hating venture
capitalist who wants to buy the
bankrupt historian's Mayfair flat to
lease it back to him for a pittance,
has some way to go. Last week,
Matthew became distressed by Marina
Hyde's studiedly polite inquiries,
and his latest email suggests no
progress. "Dear Marina," it runs.
"Print anything more and I will pass
this matter to my solicitor." You'd
never guess he's 22, would you? Now
be a good lad, Matthew, please, and
stop this silliness at once.
Wednesday June 26,
2002
RELATIONS with Matthew Gordon Lennox
- the Private Pike of venture
capitalism who hopes to buy bankrupt
historian's David Irving's Mayfair
flat in order to lease it back to
him for thruppence ha'penny - take
another sorry turn. After we
reported Matthew's threat to take
legal action if we ever mentioned
him again, another email arrives. "I
do not take kindly to having my
actions called silly on the pages of
a national newspaper, and
accordingly I have now passed this
matter to my solicitor who will be
contacting your editor in the next
few days," runs the Guardian-hating
22-year-old's latest missive. "Your
invasion of my privacy cannot
continue ... My solicitor will
require you to reveal to him the
name of the person who informed you
of my relationship with Mr Irving.
Perhaps if you do this we can
conclude this matter on relatively
amicable terms." Dear, dear, dear.
What a remarkably silly boy this is.
· As suggested yesterday,
the Electoral Reform Society has
agreed to investigate the breakdown
in scoring at Sunday's River Cafe
quiz. "Our fee, distasteful as the
subject is, will be three
invitations to your lovely summer
bash," writes ERS press officer Alex
Folkes, "and an introduction to the
charming Ms Stone (although not Mr
Irving please as he sounds rather
naff)." Alex, you'll be most
welcome. And rest assured, whether
or not he has by then become little
Matthew's tenant, David Irving will
not be making another appearance at
Carole's Covent Garden salon on our
account.
I
intend to ensure that he is in
a position to fight not just
for himself and his family but
for all of us who are opposed
to the enemies of free
speech
--
Matthew Gordon Lennox,
according to The
Guardian
Table:
write to David
Irving