Ferry drifts further rightwards

This is a tricky one for Marks & Spencer - the company has a long tradition of supporting Israel, something which has brought it into conflict with pro-Palestinian groups in the UK. Now, it turns out, one of the faces of its current advertising campaign is just as enthusiastic in his admiration for the Third Reich:

"My God, the Nazis knew how to put themselves in the limelight and present themselves," he said. "Leni Riefenstahl's movies and Albert Speer's buildings and the mass parades and the flags - just amazing. Really beautiful."

Ferry's management is desperately trying to limit the damage:

"To take offence here is to confuse the aesthetic with the ideological," Steven Howard said. "To suggest that a certain appreciation of art and architecture that happens to be associated with the Nazi regime means condoning the actions of that regime is illogical."

This might - just about - wash if Ferry had only co-opted Riefenstahl and Speer; but when Bryan starts to get all misty eyed about the "parades and flags" the "I was only admiring the paintings, guv" defence just crumbles.

The propaganda machine - the marches, the flags, the films - were all part of how the Nazis governed, and Bryan is intelligent enough to know that you can't really separate the Nuremburg Rallies from Kristalnacht.

You could, perhaps, imagine someone reviewing Mein Kampf on the quality of prose alone - but it would be a profoundly dishonest review that could elevate Adolf's way with the bon mot above the content.

We expect an official example of how Bryan isn't a right wing sympathiser to be winging its way to the press before the week is out.