Privacy campaigner Max Mosley published a by-election campaign leaflet which linked non-white immigrants with diseases like tuberculosis, VD and leprosy, it has been revealed.
The pamphlet, supporting a candidate for his father Sir Oswald Mosley’s Union Movement in a 1961 parliamentary contest, was unearthed by the Daily Mail in historical archives in Manchester.
The Mail says its discovery raises questions over evidence which Mr Mosley gave under oath in a High Court trial when he successfully sued the News Of The World in 2008.
But Mr Mosley insisted he did not recall the leaflet, and said he would not be deterred from his campaign for reforms to protect ordinary people from press abuses.
Max Mosley and Walter Hesketh (PA)
Asked in court about his political activities as a young man, Mr Mosley acknowledged he was election agent for Union Movement candidate Walter Hesketh in the 1961 by-election in Moss Side.
But he said it was “absolute nonsense” to suggest he had put out leaflets alleging that coloured immigrants brought diseases with them.
And pressed on whether the literature urged voters to “send blacks home”, he replied: “Not as I recall.”
The election handout found by the Mail states that it was “published by Max Mosley”.
It includes the warning: “Protect your health. There is no medical check on immigration. Tuberculosis, VD and other terrible diseases like leprosy are on the increase. Coloured immigration threatens your children’s health.”
It also states that “if enough people vote for me in this election, the government… will be sending coloured immigrants home, instead of bringing more in” and urges voters “let us give the coloured people a fair deal by sending them back to good jobs and good wages at home in Jamaica”.
Max Mosley was Walter Hesketh’s election agent (PA)
The document came to light as Mr Mosley pursues an effort to prevent newspapers from referring to the sex party reported in the News Of The World which prompted the 2008 court case.
The former Formula One boss has campaigned for tighter press regulation since the now-defunct Sunday tabloid wrongly reported the party was “Nazi-themed”, and has donated funds to regulator Impress.
Asked about the line “coloured immigration threatens your children’s health” Mr Mosley said: “I think that probably is racist, I will concede that completely.”
But he said he had “no reason to apologise to anyone” adding: “This was a statement in a leaflet which I am not even sure is genuine, which would never reflect my view, it would not reflect my view then or now because I simply wouldn’t dream of insulting people.”
He told Channel 4 News that “if that leaflet is genuine I am responsible for it and it shouldn’t have been issued”.
But he added: “I have never been a racist, I am not a racist, never will be a racist.”
Mr Mosley told the Press Association: “I do not recall the leaflet referred to which was allegedly issued 56 years ago. I said so in court and challenged lawyers for the News Of The World to produce it, which they failed to do.
“I obviously would not have done that if I knew of its existence.
“My record in motorsport demonstrates that I do not tolerate racism and, like most people, my political views have changed over time.
“It appears that the historical investigation pursued by the Daily Mail is yet another misconceived attempt to intimidate and deter me.
“I will continue to campaign for the vital reforms needed to protect ordinary people against the bullying of newspapers like the Daily Mail.”