Morrissey autobiography: NME accused of being out to 'get' the singer

The singer claims a decision was made in 1992 to portray him in a bad light

Morrissey's autobiography, published by Penguin Classics, is not your average celebrity memoir (Getty Images)

Morrissey has accused a former editor of NME of plotting to "get" him and trying to oust the singer as a regular feature in the magazine.

The former Smiths frontman has long had a fractious relationship with the alternative music bible, and in his explosive new memoir, simply titled Autobiography, he claims there was a conspiracy against him at the trendy magazine's headquarters.

He claims that the editor – then Danny Kelly – "allegedly called a staff meeting at which he passed the comment that writers must now 'get Morrissey'," saying the plan was to “dislodge me as an NME staple".

But Morrissey appears to misremember at least part of his tussle with the magazine. He claims NME ran a cover showing him with the Union Jack alongside the headline: "Is Morrissey flirting with fascism?"

In fact, it read: "Flying the flag or flirting with disaster."

Morrissey continues: "They milk and foster their racist allegations – full of high moral code and judicial thuggery."

He also addresses an interview with the magazine in 2007, in which he told a journalist: "It seems to me that England was thrown away," and, "If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won’t hear an English accent."

Six years later, he comments: "The editor gives the story teeth by switching the wording of my replies, and by inventing questions that were never asked. It is catastrophically controversial."