In a landmark ruling for press freedom in Britain, the government has today moved to outlaw ownership of national newspapers and magazines by foreign powers. The text of its proposed new law has not been published but it would appear to rule out any Emirati ownership – in whole or in part – of the Daily Telegraph and The Spectator.
It took Tina Stowell, a backbench Tory peer, to organise an amendment in the House of Lords and galvanise the debate which had politicians from all parties pointing out that government ownership of the press is incompatible with press freedom. Robert Jenrick ended up with close to 150 Tories willing to support her in the Commons. Perhaps the decisive intervention came from Thangham Debonnaire, the Shadow Culture Secretary, who said Labour is empathic that, on a point of principle, governments cannot own publications. This made it politically impossible for the Conservatives to keep considering the Emirati deal, given the depth and breadth of political opposition.
A free press means freedom from government: it’s fundamental to our democratic apparatus
The new proposal is that a ‘foreign state intervention notice’ will allow ministers to block or unwind purchase of national news provider by a foreign power. Importantly, the definition of ‘foreign power’ would be expanded to include people like Sheikh Mansour who is providing most of the money for the bid. RedBird had insisted that he is acting in a private capacity.
Baroness Stowell withdrew her amendment when she heard the government plan (the text has not been published) but said that she may bring it back on 26 March (the third reading of the Digital Markets Bill) if loopholes are discovered. The remaining question is whether the Emirati government would be able to buy influence by keeping a minority stake. My understanding is that ministers don’t intend to leave any loopholes and intend to outlaw an Emirati minority stake.
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