Holocaust denier David Irving gave a speech in Glasgow over the weekend in which, alongside his usual shtick of attacking Jews, he said that Hitler was still popular in Germany, and expounded his love of living in Scotland, explaining: "When I was born England was white, like Inverness. That’s why I like living [in Inverness] because it is England as I remember it."
The talk, in front of a small audience of some 40 people, was infiltrated by a journalist from the Scottish Sunday Herald.
The Herald’s account describes how Irving, dressed in a threadbare sweater, also praised Rudolf Hess and railed against Jews in ‘an appalling two hours.’
The newspaper quotes Irving as saying; that after 1938, “we allowed in hundreds of thousands of Jews who have taken over the country.”
He continued in this vein, painting himself as the victim of his own narrative - “When you look at the way these people for the last 50 years have spent 50 years trying to destroy me and my family, as Jews, they have done this as Jews, I criticise them and they accuse me of antisemitism.”
At another point Irving claimed that Hitler was still very popular in Germany: “They all say they admire him immensely. Admiration for him is super abundant.”
He also complained bitterly about negative reviews for his books in The Sunday Times and elsewhere. “I remember we got a four-page review in The Sunday Times from Arthur Koestler. He didn’t like the book…another Jew, what was his name, Rosenthal, something like that. He called it a ‘bucketful of slime’.”
The 78-year-old concluded on a hopeful note, saying “I am very conscious of the fact that we are not being disturbed here this evening. I am wondering whether this means that the Jews now have given me carte blanche and said, ‘Lay off him, he’s getting old’.”
A spokesperson for the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central hotel told the Herald: “We can confirm that an event took place at the hotel on 10 February that was attended by approximately 40 people. The hotel management does not adopt, share or promote the views of the individuals or groups to which we provide accommodations and services.”
