The Steeple Times

Category: Failure

  • Is It Time-Up For ‘The Telegraph’ & Shutdown At ‘The Spectator’?

    Is It Time-Up For ‘The Telegraph’ & Shutdown At ‘The Spectator’?

    Matthew Steeples asks: “Can ‘The Telegraph’ and ‘The Spectator’ survive as the Barclays are forced out and new media replaces the printed press?”

    For the majority of their lives, Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay were united as one. Born within 10 minutes of one another in Hammersmith, London in October 1934, these tenacious twins rose from poverty through painting and decorating and estate agency evening to ultimately counting the toniest of London hotels, The Ritz, amongst the jewels in their far-reaching empire.

     

    This privacy obsessed pair eventually added The Telegraph Group – which had been owned by the subsequently thrown in the clink Conrad Black – to their stable of assets in July 2004 and with it came power and privilege. They helped Margaret Thatcher secure a ritzy home in Chester Square on the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor Estate and even subsequently allowed her to see out her days at their best-known hotel; the milk of money and might, for them, by then, however, was beginning to turn beyond sour.

     

    Having survived but not exactly prospered in battles with Qatari and Irish tycoons in battles over such assets as The Berkeley Hotel and The Connaught Hotel, the previously inseparable Barclay brothers fell out after a punch up on their shared yacht in the late 2010s.

     

    Subsequently, on 25th February 2020, the High Court in London was told that Sir Frederick and his daughter Amanda had been bugged the conservatory at The Ritz Hotel and secretly recorded Sir Frederick’s sons, Alistair, Aidan and Howard. Relations further soured in the months that followed and after the death of Sir David on 10th January 2021 “after a short illness,” it was his brother whose troubles rose to the fore.

     

    Ordered to pay his wife, the former Hiroko Kuzusaka Asada, £100 million as a divorce settlement, Sir David simply did not comply. He was dragged back to the Royal Courts of Justice subsequently in July 2022 and “sporting a pair of radiant red pants that were higher up his waist than anything even Simon Cowell would dare,” the “prison fearing” 87-year-old played the “I’m broke card” and announced: “I’ve never had as much stress as this divorce since I was a boy.”

     

    Lady Hiroko countered: “Frederick says he cannot pay. He says he has no money. I do not believe him. It is not that he cannot pay, but that he will not pay… He’s not allowed to have a bank account because he’s not paying tax in the UK,” but this week, for him and the remaining Barclay clan members, things took a turn far worse with news that they’d lost control of their media empire.

     

    Now, comes news that The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator have been placed on the market as part of a fire sale of Barclay assets after the Bank of Scotland appointed AlixPartners as official receivers in “a bitter row over nearly £1 billion of unpaid debts” that showed “no sign [of ever being] repaid.”

     

    For The Guardian, Mark Sweeney and Alex Lawson yesterday reported:

     

    “The bank… is seeking to remove Barclay family-appointed board members, replace them with independent directors, and move to auction off the Telegraph titles and The Spectator.”

     

    “Among those being removed from the holding company, B.UK Limited, is Aidan Barclay, the chair of the newspaper group, who along with his brother, Howard, controls the family’s UK assets.”

     

    “It is understood Bank of Scotland’s parent company, Lloyds Banking Group, which has reportedly appointed the firm Lazard and is considering hiring one other investment bank, wants to move swiftly to set up an auction for the titles.”

     

    Previously in 2019, after refusing bids as low as just £100 million for the group – for which the brothers paid £665 million in 2004 – the decline of titles favoured mostly by an elderly audience has continued. Paywalls brought in online have seen off many and a heavy reliance on overpaid columnists such as Boris Johnson and Camilla Tominey did not help either. Profits for the group fell from £16.3 million in 2017 to just £900,000 in 2018 whilst daily readership of The Telegraph fell from 1.4 million to just 281,025 as of Decemeber.

     

    In spite of this, The Guardian listed a number of potential suitors for the business. They numbered:

     

    • Lord Rothermere’s DMGT group – whose other titles number the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, Metro and i newspapers; competition issues, however, may apply.
    • Rupert Murdoch’s News UK group – whose other UK titles include The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times; competition issues, however, may also apply.
    • Axel Springer, the German publisher of Bild.
    • Sir Paul Marshall’s Marshall Wace hedge fund – who funded the founding of GB News.
    • Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of Ineos.
    • Murdoch MacLennan and the Belgian group Mediahuis.
    • Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – who bought The Washington Post in 2013.
    • “Members of the Qatari and Saudi royal families.

     

    Others in the mix who might potentially like to make a bid could include:

     

     

    A poll conducted by The Steeple Times on Twitter today remains open. It asked “who should come next” at the Telegraph Media Group. Aside from a “someone else” option (56.2%), the majority of respondents (19.1%) favoured the idea of Lord Rothermere’s DMGT taking over.

     

    Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “Who would you like to see own The Telegraph and The Spectator now the Barclay family have lost control of them?” He gave options of Lord Rothermere/Mail, Rupert Murdoch/News UK, Jeff Bezos/Nash Holding or someone else (name below). By 12 noon on the 8th June 2023, the majority of respondents favoured the final option with 22.6% opting for Lord Rothermere and 20.8% for Jeff Bezos. Just 5.7% back the idea of Rupert Murdoch seizing ownership.

    Twitter reacts to our poll…

    The Barclays at war… A dynasty fast dwindling…

    Knighthood for Barclay brothers - Sir Frederick Barclay, Sir David Barclay
    Billionaires Sir David and Sir Frederick in happier times when they received their knighthoods together at Buckingham Palace in October 2000 “for their support of medical research.”
    Sir Ferderick Barclay Lady Hiroko Barclay court war
    A couple at war – Sir Frederick Barclay and his now ex-wife Lady Hiroko remain at war over over his not having paid a £100 million ($121 million, €119 million or درهم446 million) divorce settlement to her.
    Lady Beatrice - Barclay brothers yacht
    Amongst assets contested in that divorce – and since sold – was a co-owned yacht named Lady Beatrice where the twin brothers were said to have punched one another after the breakdown of their business relationship.
    The Ritz London Barclay brothers
    The Ritz was sold for around £700 million ($852 million, €833 million or درهم3.1 billion) to Qatari investors in March 2020 in spite of Sir Frederick demanding it be sold for no less than £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion, €1.5 billion or درهم5.8 billion). The controversy and the bugging that occurred on the premises was a major factor in the breakdown in the relationship of the twin brothers.
  • Pay Up Fergie – Dopey, Deranged & Delusional Sarah, Duchess of York Hit With £19m Lawsuit

    Pay Up Fergie – Dopey, Deranged & Delusional Sarah, Duchess of York Hit With £19m Lawsuit

    As dopey, deranged and delusional Sarah, Duchess of York is hit with a £19 million lawsuit and is told to pay up, we again ask: “Did she ever repay the loans and other benefits she took from the known-to-her-to-be-a-paedophile Jeffrey Epstein?”

    Sarah, Duchess of York is not known for having intelligence; Sarah, Duchess of York, in fact, is well known for being beyond stupid, but now with news that she’s being dragged into a £19 million ($23 million, €22 million or درهم86 million) lawsuit alongside Lord Grade comes proof that this prattling pillock – who is about to launch a new podcast with the uninspired name Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah – is nothing but beyond the pale.

     

    Now, once again as the wastrel wench formerly known as Sarah Ferguson (AKA the ‘Duchess of Dork,’ the ‘Duchess of Deranged’ and ‘Feckless Fergie’ amongst other things) faces questions of “unexplained” loans of around £500,000 ($617,000, €576,000 or درهم2.3 million) being “made out to her businesses,” according to the Daily Mail’s Dominique Hines, it is once again time to ask this noxious nitwit a very important question.

     

    That question? “Did Sarah, Duchess of York ever repay the loans and other benefits she took from the known-to-her-to-be-a-paedophile at the time she took said loans and other benefits Jeffrey Epstein?”

     

    According to Hines, the delusional duchess and Lord Grade “are among the directors [of the media investment company Gate Ventures] set to face the wrath of liquidators determined to recoup the sum [owed].”

     

    Going further, Hines added: “[The Sunday Times reported yesterday] that the loan [to ‘Fergie’] has not been repaid and that her recent offer of repayment was so low that it was rejected.”

     

    Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    Today on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “Today, as it’s revealed that Sarah, Duchess of York has been hit with £19m lawsuit alongside Lord Grade, is it time that delusional duchess revealed whether she ever repaid loans and other benefits taken from known-to-her-to-be-a-paedophile Jeffrey Epstein?” By 11:30am on Monday 29th May 2023, the majority of respondents favoured the answer: “Yes; but she won’t, filth.”

    The Weird Words of “Greedy” and “Needy” Freeloader Wannabe Sherlock Holmes Sarah, Duchess of York… They Get Weirder By The Week (And Soon We’ll Have A Book Of Them)…

    Given the live-in ex-wife at Royal Lodge, Windsor of supposedly skint ‘Randy Andy’ – a non-sweating nuisance who got his long-suffering relatives to pay a supposed sum of circa £12 million to Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a woman he has previously claimed to have met – is in on a world tour to prattle on to anyone who pays to listen, perhaps she should be reminded of her own weird and even weirder warblings. They number:

     

    Of sex, herself and goats: “One of the worst headlines said 82% [of the population] would rather sleep with a goat than Fergie. It’s never left me.”

     

    Of her writing novels and her style: “Sherlock Holmes meets Peaky Blinders.”

     

    Of the royal family: “They tried to put the little redhead in a cage.”

     

    Of her own family: “I do believe in family unity. I think forgiveness is key.”

     

    Of the Duke of York: “A good man… In 1986, I married a very good man. Zip.”

     

    Of whether she might remarry Prince Andrew: “Oh bless your heart, no. I think we’re great as we are.”

     

    Of supporting her disgraced ex-husband financially: “I will always be there [for Prince Andrew].”

     

    “When Andrew went through a hard time, I used to be able to throw it to ‘The Boss.’”

     

    “Since he stepped back [from royal duties] he doesn’t actually take taxpayers’ money and I’m in a position where I can support him and the rest of the family through my work. And I’m really pleased and proud to do that.”

     

    “All I will say is that for many years now – it started with Budgie the Little Helicopter – I’ve really pushed to look after my girls and to contribute to the York family life.”

     

    Of where she and the Duke of York will end up living in the future: “Honestly, I operate from living in the present. You never get complacent and it makes for a better day because you never get disappointed, then. You look at life and you go, we can adapt, we can be flexible.”

     

    Of whether she might remarry someone else: “I think I’ve got too much baggage. I look at today and if suddenly I find love again, well, that’s another bonus, isn’t it?”

     

    Of her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie: “Exceptional… I love my girlies, I’m so proud of them. They are exceptional children… If mum’s OK, they’re OK.”

     

    “My daughters come first in my life, they always have. Because I lost my mum so early, I’m subconsciously very present with them. When I brought them up, I always left my problems at the door. Your problem is not their problem – it’s not their fault. We laugh together a lot. We are just very close.”

     

    Of her grandchildren: “I’m ‘Super Gran’… When my grandchildren see me, they immediately laugh because they know I’m going to be up to something, up to no good somewhere.”

     

    “Every time I think about about co-parenting and co-grandparenting and about divorce, marriage and all these different things, I still come back to the principle that the sun will come up tomorrow, and be grateful, just get on with it.”

     

    Of the late Queen Elizabeth II: “For me, she was more a mother than my own mother. Aren’t I the luckiest person alive to have had that great honour? When I was with her, I used to say: ‘I can’t believe it. People wait and put on their best dress to have an audience with you, and I’m wandering around the garden in wellies!’”

     

    “For the whole nation, for the world. Steadfast, consistent, iconic. [She had an] extraordinary ability to put someone at ease. I still now think it was such an honour [to have known her].”

     

    “During the last three years, her poor son [was] going through such a tumultuous time… And I think HM was very relieved I could help her with him, so we became even closer, then.”

     

    “I’m so lucky. All my life, I was lucky enough to know ‘The Boss,’ HM. Like the nation and the world, she was always there. It was like having a hand at your back. It just made you always strive for being better and trying to be better, learning from her, whenever you were with her just taking everything she said as a memory. She was such an incredible legend for us all.”

     

    Of the late Queen’s corgis: “They’re very good boys, they’re very gentle. I think they knew that they weren’t to jump up and be naughty. They used to sit and watch the racing with her. And when you give them a biscuit, they don’t snatch. They’re very special, they’re national treasures.”

     

    “They really make me laugh and the follow me around. Sometimes I break a little ‘biccie’ – a digestive biscuit – in the same way the Queen broke it into little pieces, and give it to them and tell them to remember their boss.”

     

    Of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: “I have been judged all my life, and I have no judgment on the Sussexes.”

     

    “It must be hard for Meghan and can I relate to her. I believe she is modern and fabulous. She was famous before. She is great. Why can’t Meghan be great? Why can’t she be celebrated? I have been in Meghan’s shoes, and I still am. There’s always a twist of negativity and it just gets so sad and tiring… I abhor bullying and I feel desperately sorry for the pain they must be going through.”

     

    “I believe very strongly that I have absolutely no judgment on any other person’s life, and I look at how much she [Meghan] loves him [Harry] and loves the children and gives him a love that he’s never had before. That’s how I look at it… The most important thing is, Diana would be so very proud of Archie and Lili. She would have adored every moment of it.”


    Of King Charles III: “It’s incredible what he’s done for the environment. He was a trailblazer and many years ago, everybody said: ‘What’s he talking about?’ But he’s right. I’m a great believer and supporter of him, as I am of the Queen Consort.”

     

    Of herself and her life: “I have been in the gutter.”

     

    “I’m a brilliant mother. The best mother.”

     

    “I don’t believe that any single person has the right to judge another person. I’m not in a position myself to make any judgments.”

     

    “I’m very steadfast and stoic… I won’t let anyone down. I’m very loyal.”

     

    Being rather wishy-washy: “The most important thing is that the sun will come up tomorrow and the day will move on.”

     

    Of food, family and dining: “As long as it is hot, wet and goes down the right way, it’s fine with me.”

     

    “With every smell, I smell food. With every sight, I see food. I can almost hear food. I want to spade the whole lot through my mouth at Mach 2. Basta!”

     

    “We all sit round the table and eat together. Andrew and I believe in total parent unity. We’re best friends.”

     

    On the coronation of King Charles III: “Well I’ve decided the best thing about British around a coronation – although I’ve never been to one – I think we should, I should set up a tea room at the bottom of the drive with bunting and cakes.”

     

    “Never presume, never assume. I don’t know. But I’ll be there at the end of the drive with a cup of tea if I’m not there.”

     

    Of wanting to be a television star: “I would quite like to go on Dancing With The Stars. I would like somebody to teach me to tango. I do know the show and my children would be so proud of me.”

     

    On Americans: “I divorced, went to America, wrote a book, went on Oprah and did 12 years as the longest running spokesperson of Weight Watchers. I looked to America to support me and to help me and I really can’t thank the American people enough for what they gave me and what they did for me.”

     

    Of when she decided she wanted to bag a royal: “I met [Prince Andrew] when I was 12, and I said: ‘I’m going to marry him.’”

     

    Of marriage, divorce and work: “I left my marriage knowing I’d have to work. I have.”

     

    “I didn’t want a divorce, but had to because of circumstance.”

     

    “I wish we’d never got divorced. He and I both wish we’d never divorced, but we did. I wish I could go back and be the bride again, but I can’t.”

     

    Of her many, many mistakes: “I felt that I ostracised myself by my behaviour, by the past, by living with all the regrets of my mistakes, that I sort of wore a hair shirt and beat myself up most of the day thinking and regretting why did I make such a mistake. Why have I made so many mistakes?”

     

    “You look at the devil in the face, which you do. Then you forgive, and you say: ‘OK, I’ve made almost a mistake that will never be forgotten,’ and forgive.”

     

    “I think the obstacles are the way, as opposed to in the way. I feel very strongly that I completely and utterly own my very naïve self and made endless different wrong decisions, whatever they may be, but in the end, it’s got me to today as an author. I’m a person in my own right, I’m Sarah.”

     

    “I was so out of control with desperation… I was looking for quick fixes in the places I wouldn’t normally look… I’ve been a huge overtrusting, idiotic, stupid woman that went to look for the perfect situation, and that’s all I can say really.”

     

    “I’ve done the work to get to myself. I’ve done masses of mental therapy. I probably reached to the wrong places and the wrong people and made, as you call it, mistakes. I don’t call them mistakes. I call them enormous learning curves.”

     

  • No Excuses Dick – Shame On Those Trying To Suggest Dame Cressida Dick As Little Miss Innocent

    No Excuses Dick – Shame On Those Trying To Suggest Dame Cressida Dick As Little Miss Innocent

    Ghislaine Maxwell’s schoolmate Dame Cressida Dick’s bleating about her deserved demise should be called out as the disgrace that it truly is; with her turfed out with the trash it is now time for institutional change at the Met Police; no excuses should be accepted

    “She felt intimidated by the Mayor of London” before her resignation claimed some blithering bore of Dame Cressida Dick DBE, QPM on Radio 4’s ‘PM’ last night in spite of the fact that all this useless woman achieved between 2017 and 2022 as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

     

    Born in 1960, just like her Oxford school and university mate Ghislaine Maxwell – both were taught by Dame Cressida’s father Marcus Dick, a senior tutor at Balliol College – the now deservedly binned former Metropolitan Police chief’s bleatings should be treated with the contempt they well and truly deserved given she presided over and did nothing about racism and misogyny.

     

    Responding this morning on Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme Leroy Logan MBE, a founding member in 1994 and longtime chair of the Black Police Association, quite rightly slammed Dame Cressida’s tenur and added:

     

    “[It is time for the Met Police to adopt a] culture that embraces a more positive culture of embracing whistleblowers… It is time for them to go against the ‘don’t grass on your colleagues’ culture.”

     

    “They have been marking their own homework during the tenure of this last government… They have to acknowledge that they got things wrong.”

     

    Whilst protocol was completely ignored during Dame Cressida’s tenure and public trust in law enforcement in London was very badly damaged as result, it is now time for better vetting of officers. It is also time that the Metropolitan Police spoke the truth to the powerful politicians who’ve had overly too much influence over it for far too long and with “bye, bye Boris” (and “good riddance” also) being sung in the streets on Monday, it is time for a new era of honesty and transparency.

     

    Pictured top – The now deservedly disgraced former Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis with the equally disgraceful Mayor of London who so loathed her, Sadiq Khan.

     

    The Met’s Catalogue of Failures – Shame on Them

    There is unsurprisingly currently zero public confidence in the frankly incompetent Metropolitan Police and of it one Twitter user, June Sim, rightly stated in January 2022: “The Met has always been a byword amongst regional forces. We used to joke if you were rejected, they’ll take anybody. Not helped by the reputation confirmed by the Daniel Morgan report. Reputation already tarnished.”

     

    Amongst the many failings of what ought to be the nation’s premier police force – aside from multiple allegations of racism and racial bias against its officers, its failure to deal with spiralling teenage murders and the many allegations of corruption and incompetence levelled at it – are:

     

    • 1987 – Botched investigation into the murder of Daniel Morgan.
    • 1993 – Botched investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
    • 1994 – Botched investigation into allegations that Ghislaine Maxwell operated a brothel in South Kensington.
    • 2009 – Unlawful killing of Ian Tomlinson during his arrest by Met Police officers.
    • 2005 – Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by Met Police officers on the orders of Cressida Dick.
    • 2013 – Strip searching of Dr Koshka Duff during her arrest for intervening during a Met Police stop-and-search of a black teenager.
    • 2014 – Bungled investigation into allegations of historic child abuse made by Carl Beech.
    • 2014 to 2015 – Failure to stop Stephen Port committing subsequent serial killings in spite of his already being linked to the death of a man outside his home.
    • 2019 – Farcical mismanagement of policing of Extinction Rebellion protests leading to a bill of £37 million in policing costs.
    • 2020 – Misconduct of Met Police officers during their investigation into the murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
    • 2020 – Found to be 2.17 times as likely to issue fines to black people relative to the rest of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
    • 2021 – Misconduct of Met Police officers during their investigation into the disappearance of Richard Okorogheye.
    • 2021 – Met Police officer Ben Hannam found to be a member of a banned terrorist group.
    • 2021 – Shocking conduct of Met Police officers after the murder of Sarah Everard by one of their own colleagues.
    • 2022 – Apparent collaboration with Boris Johnson and his government to delay report into ‘Partygate.’
    • 2022 – Decision of Met Police to not bother continuing their investigation into the London activities of the croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

     

    Disgrace
    Former Metropolitan Police chief Dame Cressida Dick DBE, QPM (pictured with two other incompetent horrors, Priti Patel and Boris Johnson) quite understandably came under fire over crises under her watch that numbered the disgraceful shooting and killing of an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes. She was also slammed over the Met’s use of stop and search tactics, the handlings of recommendations made after the botched Operation Midland, the arrests of attendees at a candlelight vigil for murdered-by-a-serving-Met-officer Sarah Everard and complaints by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel that she obstructed their inquiry into police corruption. Is it any surprise that by the end the public had no faith in her?
    Stanhope Mews East
    Since dead sex fiend Jeffrey Epstein and his since incarcerated co-collaborator sex fiend Ghislaine Maxwell (left), one-time alleged brothel owned by Maxwell between 1989 and 1997, 69 Stanhope Mews East in South Kensington (centre) and Maxwell’s former schoolmate and now former Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick (right).