This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Yesterday's Daily Star broke new ground by publishing a political splash. Over a picture of flag-waving marchers was the headline English Defence League to become political party.

As this reproduction of its front page shows, it was anything but a neutral presentation. It is a clear piece of propaganda on behalf of the EDL, a group that opposes the supposed spread of Islamic extremism in Britain.

The story cannot be read as anything other than a cheer-leading, uncritical piece on behalf of the EDL. Triumphalist in tone throughout, it required no between-the-lines deconstruction to grasp its intention – to build support for the group among its readers.

Mind you, the final line of the story suggests it may be preaching to the converted:

"In the Daily Star phone poll yesterday, 98% of readers said they agreed with the EDL's policies."

That news story was complemented by an editorial, Don't dare ignore EDL, which sought to give the EDL a clean bill of health. Here's the leader in full:

"Critics say the English Defence League is a racist, extremist organisation that's filled with hate. The group's leader Tommy Robinson strongly denies this. He says members have no problems with race. But he admits he is against 'barbaric' Islam and the way it affects Britain. Whatever side of the fence you fall, one thing's for sure. There is a visibly growing support for the EDL. It is attracting people across Britain to its ranks who feel the same way. This should be a warning to the major political parties. Key voters are so fed up with them that they are looking elsewhere. And there are real underlying issues here with Brits who feel abandoned by their leaders. The EDL are now planning to field election candidates. If the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems don't heed this and address key issues they could soon become a political force. Then, whether you like them or not, Tommy and his followers will have to be taken very seriously."

No wonder The Independent's media correspondent Ian Burrell asks today: Has Richard Desmond decided to back the English Defence League? (Since amended, replacing 'Richard Desmond' with 'Daily Star', see later posting).

Well, he certainly seems happy for the Star's editor, Dawn Neesom, to do so. Her paper has been moving in this direction for some time.

On Tuesday, it ran a story - English Defence League will fight for hero's (that's their grammar, not mine) - about the EDL "planning a huge march after two Muslim councillors snubbed a British war hero given the George Cross."

Today, it carries a lengthy report, EDL boss Tommy Robinson says he has 24-hour guard, claiming that Muslim extremists have threatened to behead his family. Yeah?

A couple of paragraphs into the piece, the Star boasted of having "sparked a huge nationwide debate" in which "critics" had rubbished the EDL as racist thugs while "supporters" were claiming the EDL "are raising legitimate concerns among British people."

It is followed by a long series of quotes from Robinson. Here's the conclusion:

"Labour have destroyed this country and we want our rights back for British people. We have done all this in just two years without any funding or marketing. We have really struck a chord with the working classes that the three main parties have failed to do."

And the article also showed a 1% increase in support for the EDl among its readers. "We asked in yesterday's voteline if you would back the EDL and 99% of you said you would."

After publishing quotes from three MPs from each of the main parties, in which they poured scorn on the EDL, it ran a vox pop with people for and against the group.

The Star's coverage is manna from heaven for the EDL. Burrell's article quotes a supporter, Stephen Martin, who wrote on Facebook: "TODAY i sat there with my daily star with PRIDE, the pictures and banners were fair, the write up was fair, the Star comment was fair and 98 per cent back us... We have a voice now, 25p a day, if they have 74,000 new readers, we have a BIGGER voice."

I also noted the way in which the EDL made capital out of Robinson being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on BBC2's Newsnight last week. "That is how far the EDL has come," it reported on its website.

It allowed Tommy to get "his vitally important message across," it said. "And from this new position of the public awareness of the EDL, and what it stands for, we can only move forward again. No surrender!"

Well, I saw that interview and what was striking about it was the way in which Paxman - without hectoring - managed to show that Robinson had no evidence for his central claim that sharia law was being imposed within Britain.

His ignorance and intolerance were exposed by Paxman's questioning, and I'm sure that most Newsnight viewers saw through his blustering bigotry.

But it is also obvious that there is no overlap between Newsnight viewers and Daily Star readers (sadly, I have to be an exception). And, in terms of numbers, there are more, many more, of the latter.

Desmond ought to think very carefully about letting the Star use far right politics to build sales.

He should remember what happened in those societies across Europe in the 1930s where Jewish minorities were demonised in the media for their religious beliefs.

Can he not see that the underlying agenda of groups like the EDL is anti-Semitic? What does he think he is doing?

• This article was amended on 10 February to remove inappropriate language. (Here's my mea culpa, in the Jewish Chronicle)