Boss of Telegraph bidder reported to government over 'editorial breach'

The boss of the US private equity group bidding for the Daily Telegraph has been reported to the UK government for potentially breaching rules protecting the newspaper's editorial independence, after allegedly threatening to "go to war" with the title's newsroom.

- Simon Goodley

The Guardian understands that the independent directors of the Telegraph Media Group have alerted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) about supposed comments made by the RedBird Capital boss, Gerry Cardinale, to the Telegraph's editor, Chris Evans. The government department is now thought to be considering if there has been a breach of the legislation.

The move comes after the title's former editor Charles Moore disclosed in his Telegraph column last month that inquiries by the paper's journalists into RedBird Capital's bid had prompted Cardinale to "threaten he would go to war with our entire newsroom".

The column added there had been "apparent media briefings" that Evans would be removed and replaced as editor, although that was followed up by a column the Telegraph published by Cardinale last week.

In it, the private equity boss said: "We won't ever compromise the editorial independence of the Telegraph. At RedBird, we are very clear about one fundamental premise: don't invest in a newspaper if you want to influence it - that will kill the investment thesis and is just bad business."