As Max Mosley, former president of the FIA, governing body of world motor sport, and the son of Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, went to the European Court of Human Rights to argue that newspapers should be forced to warn people in advance about stories which might threaten their privacy – thereby allowing the rich and powerful to seek an injunction against publication – let us listen to the wise words of his close friend, Formula 1 ringmeister Bernie Ecclestone. Bernie, you may remember, famously described Adolf Hitler as a man “able to get things done” and hasn’t changed his mind.
Bernie apparently prefers dictatorship to democracy. “I get myself into so much trouble when I say these things but I don’t think democracy is the way to run anything. Whether it’s a company or anything, you need someone who is going to turn the lights on and off. We had Mrs Thatcher and when she was in charge she did turn the lights on and off. She brought the country to where it was before it got muddled up again.” Well, up to a point, Lord Copper. Up to a point. But wait. There’s more: “Max would have made a very good Prime Minister. Max would have been ideal.” Eh? And that Saddam Hussein, too. Because he made Iraq a more stable country. “It’s been proved, hasn’t it?”