Telegraph bidder reported for potential breach of editorial independence rules

UK government alerted after RedBird Capital’s boss allegedly threatened to ‘go to war’ with the title’s newsroom

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.

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

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”.

Moore 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.