At the time of giving evidence, Desmond was the owner of Express Newspapers and founder of Northern & Shell, which also published celebrity magazines such as OK! and New!. Desmond gave examples of how the group dealt with moral and ethical questions. He cited his decision not to run a false story about the parentage of a member of the Royal family. Desmond told the Inquiry he was not familiar with the Editors' Code of Practice and considered it something as a proprietor he did not need to know about. All editorial decisions were left to the Express's editors, he said, including the paper's decision to stop backing Tony Blair and return to backing the Conservative Party.
