Ministers should stop Telegraph sale to Abu Dhabi-backed company, says David Davis
He additionally raised the problem of ladies’s rights within the UAE, including: “There are all sorts of areas where it clashes with what I’d think of as the national interest.”
Asked whether or not he thought Rishi Sunak and the Government should step in and “stop” the sale, he replied: “Yes, in my view absolutely.”
Mr Davis mentioned that ministers should be taught from what occurred when The Times was offered to Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media tycoon, in 1981.
He mentioned: “At that point there have been situations put upon it and people situations had been damaged and there was nothing we might do about it.
“We had been informed that the editor of The Times can be unbiased. Eventually considered one of them received sacked and we might do nothing about it. The similar would apply with the Emirates. Frankly, we might do nothing to shield it.”
Mr Davis’s intervention comes after a gaggle of senior Tory MPs urged ministers to intervene over the deal, warning it had critical nationwide safety implications.
Both The Telegraph and The Spectator are up for sale and are topic to the Abu Dhabi-backed takeover bid, which has led to considerations over nationwide safety.
Public Interest Intervention Notice triggered
Lloyds Banking Group took management of Telegraph Media Group, the titles’ dad or mum firm, in June from the Barclay household over an impressive debt.
The household is pursuing a £1.2 billion deal to hand over management of the titles to RedBird IMI, a fund backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE vice-president.
Ms Frazer issued a press release on Thursday saying that she was triggering a Public Interest Intervention Notice surrounding the deliberate sale. It means each Ofcom, the media watchdog, and the Competition and Markets Authority will look into potential points surrounding the deal.
Ms Frazer added that she reserved “the right to take such further action…as I consider appropriate” together with personally intervening within the deal.
RedBird IMI mentioned any sale can be “subject to regulatory review” and it will “continue to cooperate fully with the Government and the regulator”.
In a press release it added: “Redbird IMI are entirely committed to maintaining the existing editorial team at The Telegraph and The Spectator publications and believe that editorial independence for these titles is essential to protecting their reputation and credibility.”
