Former Scottish Tory candidate drops plan for ‘exposé’ on film that sank Nazi apologist Irving
AFORMER Scottish Tory candidate has abandoned plans to make an “exposé” of an acclaimed film that charts the fall of disgraced Holocaust denier David Irving. David Ballantine axed the documentary project into the movie Denial after the Sunday Herald asked him why his new media venture was present at a secret talk Irving gave in Glasgow. This newspaper revealed details of Irving’s talk in last week’s paper.
In a wide-ranging conversation, the 45-year-old from Glasgow also said he had developed a critical view of Islam after reading the Koran in a Dubai prison.
Irving, a Nazi apologist who was jailed in Austria in 2006 for Holocaust denial, gave a private speech about his toxic career at the DoubleTree hotel in Glasgow.
The talk was littered with offensive comments and the discredited writer repeated his claim that Hitler was “uninterested in the Jews”. Around 40 individuals were present, some of whom made anti-Semitic comments, and a group of men at the back of the room gave Irving a standing ovation.
However, a camera man who was using professional filming equipment was also at the event. The man said last week that he was “just a camera operator” and referred enquiries to Ballantine.
When contacted, Ballantine, who was not at the Irving event himself, said his background was in finance as a qualified stockbroker and financial adviser. He said he had started a new project – guerillatvchannel.com – which was not yet up and running but would be making documentaries.
He said one of the projects was on Denial, a film that showed how celebrated author Deborah Lipstadt defeated Irving in a famous libel case after he sued her over claims he was a Holocaust denier. Oscar winner Rachel Weisz played Lipstadt, while Timothy Spall played the role of Irving.
Ballantine said: “We are going to try and do an exposé on the film. You obviously know about Denial, obviously being a journalist. We are going to try and do a documentary-type thing on the actual film.”
Asked which aspects of the film he was exposing, he clarified: “We’re not exposing anything. It’s almost like a retrospect on what actually happened from the protagonists’ points of view.”
However, he did not say whether Ir- ving had made contact with the project team, or if it had been the other way around: “I’m not quite sure how that actually happened. I wasn’t there.” Asked if he had seen Denial, Ballantine said: “I’ve not seen the film, no.”
Put to him that he was making a film about another film he had never seen, he said: “A film about a film that I have not seen so far, yet. But I have not actually done the interview with him.”
On whether he had contacted Lipstadt, her publishers or any of the lawyers involved in the original court case, he said: “That’s what I’m trying to do. I actually got an address last night and that’s exactly who I am going to try and contact.”
Asked about Holocaust denial, he said: “I believe that there was a Holocaust. I believe that six million people died.”
On his own politics, Ballantine said he had been in a “couple” of parties, but refused to say which ones. Asked if he was currently a member of a party, he said: “Not as far as I’m aware, but I’m not sure.”
Asked when we might see the fruits of the project, he said: “Hopefully in the next couple of weeks.”
However, within hours of the conversation, Ballantine texted: “We are going to pull the documentary. I have been unable to get a hold of Deborah [Lipstadt] for balance in the programme, and it might be slightly contentious to start with.”
Basic internet research shows that Ballantine stood for the Scottish Conservatives in the 1999 council elections in central Scotland, but was not elected. It is not believed he is a party member any longer. In 2015, the National newspaper referred to him as the director of communications for the pro-independence Scottish Libertarian Party.
On the LinkedIn social media site he is listed as “CEO” at Ballantine Asset Management Ltd, which has yet to file accounts, and an organisation called Property Over A Million Dollars. Various articles that are critical of Muslims were shared on his Facebook account.
Ballantine also said he was jailed for a short period in Dubai in 2014 after an incident with a taxi driver. He had been accused of not paying the driver, but Ballantine said the unnamed individual had lied. He said: “The reason I’m a bit critical of Islam is that I read the Koran in prison.”
A separate Facebook account, which has Ballantine’s mobile phone number listed as the contact, advertises his services as a “qualified” masseur.