Making Business like a Rothschild
By Gilad Atzmon
BBC reported yesterday that Financier Nathaniel Rothschild has lost his libel case against the Daily Mail following a 2010 story which he said portrayed him as a “puppet-master”.
The paper said Rothschild set up a meeting between then EU Trade Commissioner Lord Mandelson and Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska on the eve of a major trade deal.
Mr Rothschild, 40, had sought substantial damages over what he described as
“sustained and unjustified attacks”
by the Daily Mail in the piece published in May 2010.
The paper had said Mr Rothschild had fostered a relationship it believed to be inappropriate at that time between oligarchs Mr Deripaska and Lord Mandelson.
But Mr Rothschild said the trip to Abakan was purely social and involved himself, Lord Mandelson, Mr Deripaska, and two other men. He said the group visited a smelter facility, a sauna, partook in skiing, football, ice-hockey and Russian billiards.
The Daily Mail spokesman said the judgment vindicated the paper’s report.
He said:
Mr Justice Tugendhat accepted Mr Rothschild’s conduct had been inappropriate in a number of respects”
and had
brought Lord Mandelson’s public office and personal integrity into disrepute and exposed him to accusations of conflict of interest”.
This case is a reminder, at a time when newspapers are under attack for invading privacy, that the rich and powerful regularly use the law to prevent legitimate scrutiny of their activities. Had the Mail lost this case, it could have incurred costs of more than £1m.
I guess that the High Court of Justice gave a green light to British press to chase our corrupted politicians and financiers who clearly lack the capacity to restrain themselves.
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