5 days ago
Ministers to face down opposition to Telegraph sale
Ministers are preparing to face down opposition to the sale of The Telegraph in a row over foreign state influence.
The Government on Thursday confirmed that it will press ahead with a Lords vote next week that will decide whether foreign powers should be allowed to own up to 15pc of British newspapers.
The planned legislation is viewed as pivotal to ending the ownership uncertainty that has gripped The Telegraph for more than two years.
A proposed takeover led by the US private equity firm RedBird Capital is expected to include a passive stake of up to 15pc for IMI, a media company owned by the vice president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This week there has been determined lobbying for and against the legislation, which would ease an outright ban on foreign state shareholdings introduced last year.
Rumours have swirled in Parliament that Labour would abandon the vote over fear of a highly embarrassing defeat.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: 'Tuesday's House of Lords debate on the Enterprise Act will go ahead as planned.'
Opposition to allowing foreign states to invest in newspapers has coalesced around a rare 'fatal motion' tabled by the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservative leadership is supporting the Government's plans, but a group of Tory rebels has gathered around Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, who has called the proposed legislation 'a systemic threat to a free press'.
The plans could also face significant opposition from crossbench peers.
Lord Fox, the Lib Dem peer who tabled the fatal motion, said: 'We're working across the House to make sure we do everything we can to stand up to the Government's plan to sell out British press freedoms.
'Foreign states have no place in the UK's newsrooms. The Government should never have brought forward the legislation – but there's a growing group of peers from across the political spectrum who believe it can, and should, be stopped.
'This vote is about protecting a keystone of British democracy. I'm calling on peers to come together across the House and vote this dangerous legislation down.'
If approved by a majority of peers, the fatal motion would block the legislation and force the Government to rethink. Such votes are supported very rarely by peers as they spark arguments about the power of the unelected chamber.
MPs have already approved stakes of up to 15pc for foreign powers. Earlier this month, the Commons voted in favour of the plans by 338 votes to 79. Almost all the votes against it were Lib Dems.
RedBird's planned takeover of The Telegraph is expected to include a passive minority stake for IMI, as well as minority stakes for the Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere and Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the owner of the major record label Warner Music.
IMI had previously sought to be the majority backer of a takeover of The Telegraph alongside RedBird. It was blocked last year following a cross-party outcry, a decision that caused a serious diplomatic rift between Britain and the UAE.
The Lib Dems have argued that foreign states should be allowed to own no more than 5pc of a British newspaper, as was originally proposed by the Conservatives when they were in power and blocked the IMI-funded takeover of The Telegraph.
This week the Government sought to head off some of the opposition to its proposals by publishing plans to close a loophole.
